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, 14 July 2008
Hi!
Desperate Gambit: Limited: Dishonor one of your target Samurai Personalities: Target another player's Personality with equal or lower Chi. If either target assigns opposing the other this turn, destroy them both.
Heated Discussion: Political Limited: Target another player's Personality. Create a battlefield and assign him to defend there. Assign any number of your Courtier or Magistrate Personalities to attack there. The Defender may then assign any of his Courtier or Magistrate Personalities there. Fight the battle. During the battle, before any Personality is destroyed, dishonor him instead.
Let's assume that I play Desperate Gambit dishonoring one of my samurai-courtier personalities and target with it my one of my opponent's personalities. If I then play heated discussion and assign them both what exactly happens?
1. They both die before the battle begins? or 2. They are both about to die, but they get dishonored instead due to Heated Discussion's effect?
In other words, is assignment considered happening during the battle, or is it just a step before the battle begins?
Thank you
Brook Cunningham (rules official), 14 July 2008
Let's assume that I play Desperate Gambit dishonoring one of my samurai-courtier personalities and target with it my one of my opponent's personalities. If I then play heated discussion and assign them both what exactly happens?
1. They both die before the battle begins? or 2. They are both about to die, but they get dishonored instead due to Heated Discussion's effect?
Number 1 is what occurs.
In other words, is assignment considered happening during the battle, or is it just a step before the battle begins?
In a regular attack, the Maneuvers phases (during which units assign) occur before any battles begin. After that, the Attacke chooses a battlefield and begins the battle:
http://rules.l5r.com/Battles#Choose_Battlefield: "The Attacker chooses a battlefield whose battle has not yet ended, and the attacking and defending sides there engage. Engaging is the time point at which the battle, and the Combat Segment, both begin.... “During a battle” includes both the Combat and Resolution Segments."
In contrast, the assignments for Heated Discussion's battle occurs as effects of the action itself. But, as it is above when the Attacker chooses a battlefield, Heated Discussion's battle begins (units engage, Combat Segment starts) when its effects direct you to "Fight the battle". "During" the battle (as I quoted) includes everything after that, but not the assignment beforehand.