and must say I love the new rules etc. in play. Bit disappointed though with the fact my flagships were all bent somewhat. The yellow especially whose antennae were bent to blazes, it's one of those times that add to my wish that dad was still alive as he knew a great trick with a cigarette for straightening bent plastic. Otherwise though I'm loving the new politcal intrigue and final frontier rules, as well as the heavy ground units. Looking forward to many more hours of wasted days spent poring over the TI3 board....

I'm not sure how well this will work, but when the plastic fletchings (feathers) on an arrow get bent up, I microwave some water to boil, dip the arrow in very briefly, pull it out and the plastic is soft enough to mold a little. I'm guessing those are higher quality plastic, but maybe if you just get the antennas in the water, you might be able to straighten them. Heck, I just got my copy the other day and I didn't even think about fixing them till you said the trick with your dad. On the other hand, I might just cut them to half length. It's pretty ridiculous that a great gaming company like fantasy flight hasn't realized yet that long skinny plastic on units always get bent and look crappy.

Yeah, try giving them "the bath". You may not even need to reshape them. Here's an example:

http://boardgamegeek.com/image/1001684/twilight-imperium-third-edition-shards-of-the-thro

The hot water / cold water technique is what you need, and it is super easy!

Here is what I do:

- Get a bowl with cold water (you may add a few ice cubes on room temperature water, it works too)

- Get a tea cup, or a small bowl, put some water, get it on the microwave for 1 minute or so (until it is heated, no need to boil!)

Now, get the bent miniature, hold it from the tip, and dip it in the hot water. Do not drop it there, just dip, and count down, lets say, for like 6 seconds or so.

You you get what I mean, you will see the mini will become soft, and sometimes even unbend by itself.

Remeber just not to drop it inside, if you do, remove it quickly, you dont want to expose it to hot water more than you need.

Now, get it out, and imediatelly put it inside the cold water! You might want to hold a piece of it straight.

This will give a thermal shock in the plastic, making it "memorize" the new position.

It is cool the first time you feel it, because the mini will harden right away.

Do it with a few miniatures and you will see how easy you can unbend them.

It works even with painted minis like tannhauser.

Sometimes though, after a few hours or days a couple of minis might revert back to being bent. You just need to repeat the process. Eventually the little bugger will give up and remain unbent!

Thanks for the tips guys, sorry I didn't reply to this sooner but been busy between work and actually playing the game. Got a rules question too, but I'll put that in its own thread so its easy to find.

No problem man, have fun!

Hope the tip helps you later, lemme know

Great guys, it worked, did it last night after I read the forum, so thanks for that, all Flaggies now straightened out.