Warhammer Fantasy 8th Edition

I went in to the local Hobbytown today to have a look at the new Warhammer rulebook. I saw it, and they also had a few sets of the Limited Edition Skull Dice (some old-timey-looking dice with skulls instead of pips) and a few Engineer's Ranging Sets (a huge set of stylized plastic calipers and a similarly-styled plastic fold-out ruler). If I were younger and had ten bucks to blow, the dice might be sort of neat, but the Ranging Set just looks cumbersome to use and is pretty overpriced as far as quirky gaming aids go. I didn't see anyone else there looking at Warhammer stuff, but the store here in Nampa is pretty slow most time anyway. They've got a fairly active trading card game community and there is usually someone in there looking for R/C Car parts, but that's about it. The Boise store may have had a few more people in for the release, but I didn't want to drive all the way out there to look at a shrink-wrapped book.

I didn't buy the rulebook. They've got a pretty decent price on it and I have a coupon for an additional $5.00 off a purchase, but I really have no need for it at the moment. My last game of Warhammer was in July 2007, and since then my Skaven have been changed so much by the new army book and now the new rulebook that I'm wondering if I can adapt them or if I'll have to replace whole sections of the army to make them work under the current rules. Most of the changes can be read about online, and that's probably all I need to make army lists and occasionally paint something. I doubt I'll be playing any games before late 2011-early 2012, so I'll either pick up the book or the starter box then and probably save myself a few dollars.

The only reason to pick up the book now would be to fulfill some inner desire to participate in the gaming community's excitement over the new rules and the changes to the various armies. This would be somewhat misguided, sort of like a banker who buys a Harley as a way to feel like a rebel biker by wearing leather and riding around on the weekends, as I am not really a member of any gaming community here locally. I've got a couple of acquaintances who are mildly interested in miniatures, a cousin who plays various games, and a lot of gaming blogs that I read, but in spite of my best intentions I really just exist on the fringes of the community, never really actually participating. That's sort of a theme for my life, not just the gaming side of things, and goes a long way toward explaining why I don't really have any close friends (some immediate family excepted).

I may make purchase of the book/box set an incentive-based thing, perhaps contingent on my ability to pass the army-mandated physical fitness test. The doctors say my knee injury is healed and so I've got a 90-day window in which I have to pass the test. I've been running after work, but my knee hurts so much that I haven't even completed the required 2 miles, much less to the time standard. I'm going to have to find a way to get there, though, as my actual window is much less than 90 days. With upcoming training I've probably only got a month or two before I absolutely have to pass it. The implications are pretty deep, as we are depending on the upcoming deployment to help us get to a good place financially. Additionally, failing the test at this juncture would negatively affect my military career, which directly affects my ability to keep my civilian job. So I've pretty much got our entire livelihood resting on a wonky knee that so far isn't cooperating very much. My skills aren't that marketable outside of the military world, and my skills at marketing myself are abysmal, so I really feel a lot of pressure to perform at the moment. It's got me pretty worried, and with everything that's going on professionally I haven't been able to spend the quality time with my family that I'd like to before I go away for a year. Even when I am home, I feel so grouchy and low that I must be unpleasant to be around. I guess that's enough ranting for one day. I don't think I will be making much progress on the hobby side of things for a while, although I might post a few ideas or something here and there.