agreed, having a pdf is handy because alot of army building stuff is done on the computer and its nice to not lug a heavy book around for that. that said, it is a grave sin to play in a store without supporting it monetarily, this isn't warhammerforhomelesschildren.org, the non-profit organization for all of your warhammer needs.
One way of finding a more "cost effective" way of obtaining the rule book is by getting either the "Assault on Black Reach" set for 40K, or the "Island of Blood" set for Fantasy. Both come with 2 separate armies (not a lot of points worth, but enough to get you started), some dice, which include a Scatter and Artillery die, two 18" rulers (or as I like to call "The Red Whips of GW"), and a miniaturized handbook that covers all the rules from the main rule book, but condensed into something a lot smaller and "carry-on" friendly. The sets are designed to bring new players in, and in hopes that they'd build on their armies respectively. Now, granted this does mean that you'd probably want to choose between one of the two armies that the set comes with, if you intend to get somewhat of a start on your Fantasy/40K gaming. It worked out very well for me, since I decided to play Space Marines and High Elves. But if you find yourself more interested in playing a different army, there might be players who'd be willing to trade for your models or buy them for store credit. Some players have posted threads asking for trades and such as well, so it probably wouldn't be difficult to find a few people to help you out.
and as for your first point Ian, i think thats a better gauge of Ben as a player rather than the game. he chooses the lore, buys the item to transfer miscasts, buys the ability to know all spells and throws 6 dice at getting the spell off.
I think this was summarized pretty well. When I first started playing Fantasy, the Island of Blood set had just hit the market, and so I thought "Why not?". High Elves were being heavily marketed at the time, and since the Skaven army didn't appeal to me, I naturally went with the Elves. Consequently, I decided to expand on the army, and eventually, it grew from that one IoB set to roughly 4000 points worth of models. (Thank you GW for finding new ways to make me spend money on you...
). In any case, the character that Ian is referring to is quite frankly very powerful. I'm no one to deny it. But like Maynard said, it's part of the nature of the game. Since the IoB set was released, GW had been marketing High Elves with as much efforts as they market Space Marines for 40K (or at least I think so). And when you have a product that sells, the logical idea is to make them better than what's out there. Does that mean we have balancing issues with competition? Absolutely. But that's also why GW needs to update their other armies to close the gap between the armies that are more competitive and those that aren't.
@ Rurouni
i'd be interested in a game of fantasy as well, i miss battleground 
the drive is a bit longer since i moved, so i don't come by anymore unless i'm guaranteed a game. PM me if you feel like playing
Dude, I'd be more than happy to play, if my schedule allows it. If I know for sure I'll be in town, I'll shoot you a PM.
