My wife unwittingly set me straight the other day. I got all excited about the WoW TCG (World of Warcraft Trading Card Game) and started looking up various championship decks online and then began to make lists and agonize over which set was the best value as far as power cards. When I went to discuss the pros and cons of the various sets with her, she said, "Well, can't we just play with whatever cards we buy?" I muttered something about competitive decks and equipment:ability:ally ratios while realizing that she was correct. You can just play with whatever cards you get from the packs. And I imagine that if everyone in our small group plays with having fun as the goal, power cards and combos don't matter all that much. I had fallen into the same attitude that I find so annoying in the Boise Warhammer group, that of the power-gamer. So I have resolved to literally play the hand I am dealt and be happy with whatever Hunter cards I get. Although I may have to buy a few Venomstrike cards, just because Scorpid pets are awesome and no Hunter should be without one.

With the announcement of D & D 4th Edition, books from 3.5 Edition are starting to pop up on auction sites at low rates. At some point I may start picking up some of the more interesting ones. From what I've heard 4th Edition sounds very interesting, but there are also rumors that the online components will be on some sort of subscription program with a monthly fee. I don't play D & D often enough to justify paying every month for the privilege of using the online tools, and it appears to me that much of the 4.0 content will be released through the various online utilities. I use the D & D books mostly for reading material, so I'll be fine with the older stuff that I can pick up on the cheap.

I meant to do some sort of painting today, but I didn't get to it. As I've only got 15 minutes before bedtime, I don't see any painting happening for the rest of the night, either. I think I'll paint up some more Skaven next, starting with a partially-done Rat Ogre. I'd like to paint up my unit of Orcs, but I haven't primed them and I haven't done much research on the painting of green skin. I planned out the Heavy Weapons for several of the Companies in my Space Marine Chapter. I'm trying to make sure I have a squad or two with each possible weapons configuration.

The rats went back to the pet store yesterday. My allergies have begun to calm down and I have regained a couple square feet of desk space where the cage used to be.

We had the TMP Fantasy Football League draft today. It went pretty well (for everyone else). I chose Peyton Manning in the first round and I think it might cause some trouble for me. Because I took him in the first round, my Running Backs aren't as good as they could be and my Wide Receivers aren't that great either. Choosing a Quarterback in the first round really messed up my drafting mojo. It could be a long season for my team. I am sitting in first place in the TMP Fantasy Baseball League standings, though, so it's not all bad. The playoffs start next week, so hopefully my regular-season success will transfer over. In last year's football league I went into the playoffs in first place and left the playoffs in sixth place, so I have a history of burning out when it really matters.