I think the game is fantastic and well-thought out with one exception: the requirement that the cavalry pieces be glued together. I don't know whose "bright idea" it was but it was the only major shortcoming of this game as I see it. Similar games either have cavalry molded into one piece (like Avalon Hill's Battle Cry) or cavalry riders made of flexible plastic but molded so as to "grip" the horses without needing glue (like Eagle Games' Napoleon in Europe and American Civil War).

Years ago I had plastic miniatures of the US 7th Cavalry that had to be glued together. I used varying forms of plastic cement or airplane glue and the end result was always a lot of dried glue noticeable on the units, and the glue rarely held together for long - pick up the unit wrong and the whole thing falls apart.

As a result, I decided to try Super Glue instead. I pressed down, I avoided using too much glue or too little glue and I left the pieces overnight.

This morning, they came apart with minor contact and the Super Glue came off quickly if scratched with a fingernail.

Does anyone have any suggestions about ways to keep the cavalry units together?

No he podido ver todavia el tipo de plastico de las figuras, pero lo normal es que te funcione cualquier pegamento de Modelismo para plastico, ejemplo el de la marca Revell.

Saludos, por cierto ¿se sabe cuando va a estar disponible este juego en las tiendas de Madrid - España?

Still waiting for my game.

I heard from others that these do not work at all with the plastic included in this game:

Zap - thick /thin ( super glue)
Gaitor Glue
Contacta Glue Revell
Gorillia Glue
PVA Glue
UPCV Glue
Plastic wield

I'm still waiting on more answers and will advise.

I will attempt to use 5 minute epoxy when my game arrives later in the week.

Epoxy might work. I got partial success with Loctite All Plastics glue, which held about 1/3 of them.

Problem is these are made of something akin to Polythene, which makes them impervious to solvents. That means that all plastic solvent-based glues are out. On these particular figures, the formulation has an extremely hard outer surface, which means that most other glues will not work as well.

Painting will be tricky as well. There aren't good primers for this type of plastic.

I dont have the game yet, but just had a thought, what if you tried filing the two parts that are to be stuck together (breaking up the outer surface which may make a better surface for the glue to stick to) anyway just a thought.

One suggestion (from a lot of time spent tabletop wargaming using 1/72nd scale plastics!) use a pin driven through the underside of the horse and up into the rider.

The bases make it pretty impossible to pin the figures form the bottom. You'd need to do it from the top.

Hot glue and PVA are the best I've come up with so far. It is that or use two drilled holes and a short pin.

Thanks to everyone who has had suggestions. While I appreciate them all, I am most eager to find solutions that don't require a high level of skill to use (i.e., glue is simple - drilling pins is way beyond my skill level).

Stalin said:

It's not as scary as you may think, honest. If you can't pin from the underside of the horse (I don't have a copy of the game yet, so didn't know the base of the figure was an issue), you just need a fairly steady hand, some cheap pins, and a pair of wire clippers. Push the pin into the saddle of the horse, until it's in deep enough that you think it feels solid, and then clip off the bit that sticks out above the saddle,and push the rider down hard onto that - must clippers leave a sharp enough 'point' on the piece you have cut that it goes into plastic soldier modely pretty easily, the only 'skill' is in estimating how long you need to leave the pin projecting above the saddle, and if in doubt it's worth picking up any of the 1/72d scale plastic cavalry sets around cheap and experiment for a few minutes until you have the hang of it.

The simplest solution is to wash with warm water and strong soap (e.g. dishwashing soap) the figures, leave them in the soapy water for a while.

Then, with an old tootbrush or a nail brush, brush the saddles and the inside of the legs of the riders. Let the figures to dry.

After this treatment, any kind of glue works (superglue is normally the easiest choice, but also polyvinilic glues should work ok).

As Suggested from others and FFG:

1. Thoroughly wash each piece to be glued together with house hold detergent. Use nail or old tooth brush to clean areas where glue will be applied.
2. Dry completely
3. Carefully use a micro file ( from local hobby store ) and file rider / horse where you will apply glue. This will remove the figure's harden outer shell.
4. Use medium viscosity superglue - (Game Workshop glue or similar product). Apply glue - hold until figure is set ( follow glue label ).

I hope this helps everyone out in this task.

Epp

REMEMBER: Pimping your games is not only LEGAL , it is ENCOURAGED ! By order of the Queen !

try 2 sided scotch tape...I know it will be a pain in the wazoo to put on but might work

My solution would mean that the riders can be easily removed for storage. I have employed the everlasting Duck Putty (found at craft stores)

1) Wash your pieces in good house cleaning detergent.
2) Dry completely
3) Pinched off a small bit of putty and attach to the horse's saddle.
4) Attach Rider when needed for game play
5) Remove rider when placing him in storage
6) Pinch off the putty if needed to reset rider.
7) This doesn't take brain science and will not damage the units involved in this marrying together.

This also works well with the cannon barrels!

I simply used 'Loctite all plastics super glue.' I believe it's just normal super glue but it comes with a pen of activator which you put on the plastic pieces before hand, leave it for a minute to dry and then glue as normal. It works great.

I Use Pritt, it works for me.

http://www.prittworld.com/be-d/producten/lijmen/alleslijm.html

As I understand it the plastic is polythene, if that is the case then the options are limited.

The recommended methods are;
Hot gas welding: specially designed heat gun, called a hot air welder, produces a jet of hot air that softens both the parts
Ultrasonic welding: high-frequency ultrasonic acoustic vibrations are locally applied to workpieces
Laser welding: laser beam provides a concentrated heat source
Infrared welding: halves are held rigidly in position near an infrared emitting platen to melt the joining surfaces
Fastening: the drill and pin method talked about here.

I am using earthquake putty for the time being, then I may go the route of "fastening".

Use a little PVA glue plus Super glue . Always good results.

As for suggestions to priming the figs, I just used Krylon spray can for plastics. It seems to work really great and comes in a variety of colors. You can find them at Wal-Mart stores. I recommend washing the figs in a household detergent and drying first before spraying. Let the figs dry for several days before staring to paint them.

Here is another idea - this is how I have made the joins between cavalry and horse permanent.

Use a hot soldering iron with a fine head. Ensure you are working in a well ventilated area.

Brush the riders at the points where they contact the saddle - just enough to melt the plastic.

Do the same to the saddle. Then quickly press the rider in place.The pastics fuse together. and you have a bond.

Regards

Rax

30 min epoxy worked great for me!!

I used a light touch with a soldering iron to the man an the saddle - they are still stuck on.