Call to Arms

Legend of the Five Rings card from Lotus Edition, Shadowlands, Diamond Edition, Gold Edition, Hidden City, Web of Lies, Code of Bushido, Path of Hope

Card Type

Strategy

Gold Cost

3

Card Text

Reaction: If you are the Defender, after the Declaration Segment begins: Straighten all your bowed Personalities. After this attack ends, bow all the Personalities this card straightened.

Focus Value

3

Legality

Age of Enlightenment (Lotus), Clan Wars (Imperial), Four Winds (Gold), Rain of Blood (Diamond)

Deck

Fate

Printings

Rulings

• All your Personalities who can straighten must do so, including those who may remain bowed. [DW, l5rinfo, 6/5/96] Accumulated Rulings, February 8, 2000, p. 19
• Affected units become bowed during the resolution of the last battle. This means they'll always bow before you can play Counterattack, since that is played "after the last resolution segment". [DW, l5rinfo, 10/22/96] Accumulated Rulings, February 8, 2000, p. 19
• Must be played before any unit assignments are made. [DW, l5rinfo, 11/15/96, and rulebook] Accumulated Rulings, February 8, 2000, p. 19
• Units are assigned during the Maneuvers Segment, but Call to Arms is played in the Declaration Segment, which happens first. May be played in response to Ambush. [DW, l5rinfo, 5/15/97] Accumulated Rulings, February 8, 2000, p. 19

Rules Q&A

• Q: Following the questions on Ambush / Retribution,
  I would like to ask if someone can play "Call to Arms" as a reaction to an "Ambush" thus straightening all his personalities before the Ambush takes place.
  A: If his Personality is the target to be the Defending Personality, then he will be the Defending Player, and thusly be able to play Call to Arms during the Assignment Segment, as per card text of Call to Arms. Martin Lund, "Rules for 17 and 18 September 2004", 23 Sep 2004
• Q: Hello, i would like to know if my oponent can play the reaction " Call to Arms" when i play a "Retribution" ?
  A: Of course he can. You declared an attack and he's the defender. That creates a brand-new trigger for Call to Arms to be played. Martin Lund, "Rules for 20 May 2004", 24 May 2004
• Q: Can Call to Arms be used when a player uses Retribution?
  Given any attack phase has a declaration segment, a maneuvers segment, an action segment, and finally a resolution segment, then the attack phase created by Retribution should be enough to trigger Retribution, right?
  A: You are correct, sir. Martin Lund, "Rules for 26 April 2004", 29 Apr 2004
• Q: Can reactions that trigger off a attack being declared be played off of a ambush targeting one of your cards? Example: Call to Arms
  A: Yes. The first effect of Ambush is "Declare an additional Attack Phase." Martin Lund, "Rules for 24 April 2004", 27 Apr 2004
• Q: I had Togashi Satsu bowed, and he ambushed him with Yogo Soto. I played Call to Arms in responce to the ambush, and unbowed Satsu. The way we read Ambush, he had to assign his unit because of the way Ambush targeted, and Satsu slaughtered Yogo Soto, and then bowed at the end of the Ambush. Did we do things correctly?
  A: Soto did not have to be assigned. Someone on that side of the table had to be, but Call to Arms (which is perfectly legal here) occurs during Declaration, which is well before Assignment. Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 12 December 2003, Part 2", 13 Dec 2003
• Q: Is it legal to Spearhead a unit that bows due to the ending of Call to Arms' effect [?]
  A: Yes, *if* that unit was in the last battle to resolve. Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 18 November 2003", 18 Nov 2003
• Q: When I´m using To the last man, the force of my bowed personalities in battle counts in the force that my opposing have to destroy from his army??????
  A: What does this have to do with Call to Arms?
  The total you divide by 2 for To the Last Man is the total you had during battle resolution. Unless you used some other card to save them, they can't be bowed now -- they should be dead, since you can only play To the Last Man after your army is destroyed. Jeff Alexander, "post for 14 May 2003", 15 May 2003
• Q: In a game of scorpion vs scorpion player, things get like this: Player A has Kiyo EXP with celestial sword of the scorp and Paneki with a follower. Player B has Paneki EXP. Both players are at 2 province left. Player A attacks. Player B defends on the other of his provinces. Player A destroys province and his personalities bow. (He has Call to Arms and gold). Now it becames tricky: Can player B, in the resolution of his battle take, use Paneki EXP hability to get Kiyo EXP with the sword, bowed, in his battle ?
  A: Yes.
  Player B has Presence (he has a unit in the battle).
  Player B has Relevance (he is using the action of a card in the battle, and he is also moving something into the battle).
  Paneki Exp. says "this battle" and is in the battle being resolved.
  Paneki Exp. can target a Scorpion Clan Personality belonging to any player, and move them into the current battle no matter where they are. [card text] Jeff Alexander, "post for 31 March 2003", 1 Apr 2003
• Q: If Yoritomo Katoa bows to pay the cost of Call to Arms is he straightened by Call to Arms' effect?
  A: Yes. Jeff Alexander, "post for 19-22 April 2002", 23 Apr 2002
• Q: Hows does Akodo Kaneka Wind work with Regions? My guess is badly. ;-) Basically, if you replace the face up card with a Region does it immediately come into play, or does it just sit there and wait until your next Events Phase to come into play?
  A: Regions enter play at the end of your Events Phase. That's it, barring specific card text to the contrary (like Regions of Rokugan). Regions turned face-up during your turn, by Kaneka or anything else, sit there face-up. You are free to discard them during your Dynasty Phase or to leave them there for them to enter play on your next turn. Jeff Alexander, "post for 5 October 2001", 6 Oct 2001
• Q: Second, when exactly is Call to Arms played?
  A: "during the Declaration Segment of an attack in which you are the Defender." [Gold Edition card text] Jeff Alexander, "post for 5 October 2001", 6 Oct 2001
• Q: My friends keep telling me about the great 'surprise' power of a Call to Arms. However, if I read it correctly it is played in the Decleration Step, which is when someone says... "I am declaring an attack against you" but before the commit any units.
  A: Correct. Jeff Alexander, "post for 5 October 2001", 6 Oct 2001
• Q: So, I've attacked, and my opponent has Counterattacked before I can Rally. I play Call To Arms, unbowing all my people. We resolve some battles. His surviving units go home. I play Rallying Cry as a Reaction to the end of the resolution segment of my last battle. Which of my cards unbows? My assumption is that the followers in units which were attacking will unbow, as long as nothing as has been done to bow them (eg old Imperial Favour), but not the people as they've also been bowed by the Call to Arms, which the Rallying Cry doesn't "prevent".
  A: Looks about right to me. Any of your cards bowed after the Counterattack by Call to Arms, or bowed during the Counterattack for any reason (producing a Ranged Attack, Storms of War) will not be straightened by a Rallying Cry played later in the Reaction sequence. Vaughn Derderian, "Rules for July 30th", 30 Jul 2001
• Q: Can a personality who remains bowed by forced march be unbowed by call to arms?
  A: I got beat to this one by a number of folk, but, yes, Forced March only prohibits straightening in your own next Straighten Phase, so Call to Arms will still straighten them. Jeff Alexander, "Rulings for 1-2 April 2001", 7 Apr 2001
• Q: Quick question about his ability to play cards from other players' hands.
  Can this be used to, say, play a Call to Arms from an opponents hand after someone declares an attack?
  -KK-
  A: Yes. "During an attack" means the whole Attack Phase. Zen Faulkes, "Bayushi Paneki", 3 Mar 2005