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, 6 July 2010
relevant Text:
1) Iuchi Quan "Recon Limited: ... After the next Cavalry Maneuvrs Segment this turn, you may assign a unit to that provinces battlefield."
2) Comprehensive Rules - Assign "Some effects may allow a player to assign units he or she doesn’t control, or to assign or move a player’s units to the army of the player’s enemy. Whether a unit assigns to the defending or attacking army depends on who controls the unit, not necessarily who assigns it. Example: If the Attacker is allowed to assign one of the Defender’s units he or she does not control, he or she must normally still assign it to the defending army."
3) and Comprehensive rules - Sequence of Play - Subsection Battles "A. Assign Attacking Units.
The Attacker chooses, from his home, any number of his units whose Personality is unbowed. He assigns these units to any battlefields in any arrangement desired. B. Assign Attacking Allied Units." (and so on)
-------------------------------------------------------------
Could you please clarify, if you are allowed to assigning your Opponent's Unit using Iuchi Quan's Actions ?
There is quite a hot debate about the interpretation of his ability going on and I've found similar arguments Pro/Contra being able to assign an opponent's unit, over here, too. ( This and This seem to be good summaries of the respective interpretations of how Quan is intended to work )
Cheers, Shakiko
Alex Jones (rules official), 6 July 2010
relevant Text:
1) Iuchi Quan "Recon Limited: ... After the next Cavalry Maneuvrs Segment this turn, you may assign a unit to that provinces battlefield."
2) Comprehensive Rules - Assign "Some effects may allow a player to assign units he or she doesn’t control, or to assign or move a player’s units to the army of the player’s enemy. Whether a unit assigns to the defending or attacking army depends on who controls the unit, not necessarily who assigns it. Example: If the Attacker is allowed to assign one of the Defender’s units he or she does not control, he or she must normally still assign it to the defending army."
3) and Comprehensive rules - Sequence of Play - Subsection Battles "A. Assign Attacking Units.
The Attacker chooses, from his home, any number of his units whose Personality is unbowed. He assigns these units to any battlefields in any arrangement desired. B. Assign Attacking Allied Units." (and so on)
-------------------------------------------------------------
Could you please clarify, if you are allowed to assigning your Opponent's Unit using Iuchi Quan's Actions ?
There is quite a hot debate about the interpretation of his ability going on and I've found similar arguments Pro/Contra being able to assign an opponent's unit, over here, too. ( This and This seem to be good summaries of the respective interpretations of how Quan is intended to work )
Cheers, Shakiko
The definition of "Assign" makes no reference to who controls the Unit, so no special text is required to assign another player's Unit. Iuchi Quan can assign a Unit controlled by any player.
A player, 6 July 2010
Moreover the glossary reads (emphasis added): "Assigning is a non-movement way to change the location of one or more units from home to a battlefield. Units led by bowed Personalities normally may not assign, either as part of the normal Attack Phase procedure, or through other effects that assign them."
As a consequence, Iuchi Quan's Recon action's delayed effect can assign a unit only if it is led by an unbowed Personality in his controller's home.
A player, 17 July 2010
Regarding this ruling: viewtopic.php?f=59&t=84769
It was stated in that thread that Quan could assign other player's units because the rules did not state that a player had to assign their own units, however, I respectively disagree:
A. Assign Attacking Units. The Attacker chooses, from his home, any number of his units whose Personality is unbowed. He assigns these units to any battlefields in any arrangement desired.
C. Assign Defending Units. The Defender chooses, from his home, any number of his units whose Personality is unbowed. He assigns these units to any battlefields in any arrangement desired.
The previous lines from the Rules Glossary states that players assign units from "his home." "His" is the possessive pronoun that denotes ownership, or at least control. Since Quan does not give a player ownership or control over a unit, he should not be able to assign units that are not his. Therefore, Quan should only be able to assign units controlled be his player, not other players.
Zen Faulkes (rules official), 17 July 2010
Regarding this ruling: viewtopic.php?f=59&t=84769
It was stated in that thread that Quan could assign other player's units because the rules did not state that a player had to assign their own units, however, I respectively disagree:
A. Assign Attacking Units. The Attacker chooses, from his home, any number of his units whose Personality is unbowed. He assigns these units to any battlefields in any arrangement desired.
C. Assign Defending Units. The Defender chooses, from his home, any number of his units whose Personality is unbowed. He assigns these units to any battlefields in any arrangement desired.
The previous lines from the Rules Glossary states that players assign units from "his home." "His" is the possessive pronoun that denotes ownership, or at least control. Since Quan does not give a player ownership or control over a unit, he should not be able to assign units that are not his. Therefore, Quan should only be able to assign units controlled be his player, not other players.
I suspect you only read the first of the two answers given above.
A player, 17 July 2010
"As a consequence, Iuchi Quan's Recon action's delayed effect can assign a unit only if it is led by an unbowed Personality in his controller's home."
Just for clarification's sake, does the 'his' in 'his controller's home' refer to Iuchi Quan, or the Personality he is attempting to assign?
Alex Jones (rules official), 17 July 2010
"As a consequence, Iuchi Quan's Recon action's delayed effect can assign a unit only if it is led by an unbowed Personality in his controller's home."
Just for clarification's sake, does the 'his' in 'his controller's home' refer to Iuchi Quan, or the Personality he is attempting to assign?
It was stated in that thread that Quan could assign other player's units because the rules did not state that a player had to assign their own units The rules for the Attack Phase certainly only allow a player to assign units he controls. However, the definition of "Assign" in the glossary, as quoted above, covers assignment of units that are not necessarily controlled by the assigner.
does the 'his' in 'his controller's home' refer to Iuchi Quan, or the Personality he is attempting to assign? The Personality he is attempting to assign.
Roger Giner-Sorolla (rules official), 19 July 2010
Hold up ... Rules Team is discussing this internally.
Roger Giner-Sorolla (rules official), 20 July 2010
In effects that allow a player to just assign a unit, that player may normally only assign units he or she controls. [ADDED 20 Jul 2010] Some effects, however, may explicitly allow the player to assign other players' units, or to assign or move a player’s units to the army of the player’s enemy.
And because of this, the ruling earlier in the thread is REVERSED: You may only assign your own units (as "super-cavalry") with Quan's ability.
Thanks for your patience and apologies for the confusion.