A topic from AEG's L5R CCG Rules forum, copied for Oracle of the Void from a copy of the forum saved in October 2015, so pages it didn't save are missing. Players' names are left out; the rules officials are named. Rulings are as they stood on these dates; later rulings, the rulebooks and the Rules Archive may differ.
A player, 19 October 2012
Hey,
So when I first saw Mirumoto Houken (Experienced) at GenCon, I had a long discussion with others on how he is "mechanically broken" based on how his Battle/Open action is worded. I wanted to pose the question anyways, in case Greg Wong and I were wrong in discussion about how the card works.
If Mirumoto Houken (Experienced) was in an attacking army and has already resolved his battlefield, is it possible to use his battle action to straighten his unit, but fail to move him to a battlefield where he would be opposed?
Relevant Text: Battle/Open: Even if Houken is bowed: Straighten his unit. You may move him home, or, if he would be opposed, to the current battlefield.
Thanks!
Anthony
Alex Jones (rules official), 21 October 2012
Hey,
So when I first saw Mirumoto Houken (Experienced) at GenCon, I had a long discussion with others on how he is "mechanically broken" based on how his Battle/Open action is worded. I wanted to pose the question anyways, in case Greg Wong and I were wrong in discussion about how the card works.
If Mirumoto Houken (Experienced) was in an attacking army and has already resolved his battlefield, is it possible to use his battle action to straighten his unit, but fail to move him to a battlefield where he would be opposed?
Relevant Text: Battle/Open: Even if Houken is bowed: Straighten his unit. You may move him home, or, if he would be opposed, to the current battlefield.
Thanks!
Anthony
If Houken xp has been in a battle's resolution this Attack Phase, you may indeed use his action to straighten him but he will not move, according to the Second Battle Rule (emphasis mine): Unlike the Rules of Presence and Location, the Second-Battle Rule does not restrict the taking of actions, but prevents movement and assignment as a cost or effect under certain conditions.