Sorry it took me so long, real life got in the way.
You might want to check in with Reaper as well since they've been working with plastic/resin.
You may also want to hold on until GAMA, I know it's a ways off but it would give you time to get everything worked out, minis designed or reworked, GAMA I know always has a ton of manufacturers there and usually a few from overseas so it's a good place to get some extra info and pricing on getting models made.
I think a basic into set and a base box set are both good ideas, maybe KS those and offer more for retailers? One thing I've noticed is a trend away from blisters, this is good at the retail end as there is less for them to put on the shelves. Maybe go with small box sets depending on how you go with manufacturing. A basic UNE squad or section box, a basic legion unit box, a UNE command box (with a mix of officer and specialists), a special weapons section (gives a section of heavy and special weapons that can be split up or attached etc.), heavy trooper box (heavy armour section) etc. then you also have the option to do something similar intoducing more races to the fight. It keeps your shelf footprint small and let's people pick models up in pre made sections with unit cards and unit options etc.
Personally I always loved the tiles, I liked the idea of introducing small rules books...new races, scenarios, unit types etc. with a few new tile sets...makes the books especially desirable for the new tiles etc. plus you also have an option to release a tile set separately depending on costs.
Btw, don't know if any one is at Gencon this year but a few years ago I found two or three overseas manufacturers had booths there...might be something to check on, just remember that while it's usually a lot cheaper it also has a lot of potential issues.