Shinjo Horsebow

Legend of the Five Rings card from Samurai Edition, The Fall of Otosan Uchi, Lotus Edition, Promotional–Samurai

Card Type

Item

Force

+0

Chi

+0

Gold Cost

2

Keywords

Weapon

Card Text

Battle: Bow this card: Ranged 2 Attack.
Battle: If this Personality is Cavalry, bow him: Ranged 4 Attack.

Focus Value

2

Legality

Age of Enlightenment (Lotus), Four Winds (Gold), Race for the Throne (Samurai), Rain of Blood (Diamond)

Deck

Fate

Printings

Rulings

• Erratum: Reads, "Shinjo Horsebow +0F/+0C 2G 2FV Weapon. Battle: Bow this card: Ranged 2 Attack. Battle: If this Personality is Cavalry, bow him: Ranged 4 Attack." [MRP, Samurai Edition, 25 July 2007] Comprehensive Rules, Samurai Edition, with specific card rulings, final version, May 2009, p. 155

Rules Q&A

• Q: Are ranged attacks that a personality can't actually use valid for Ambush Duel? For example, could a non-cavalry personality still add 4 to his or her chi during an Ambush Duel if they have a Shinjo Horsebow attached,
  A: The card text does not say the ability has to be usable, only that the ability must be there. A non-Cavalry personality still adds +4 from Shinjo Horsebow in an Ambush duel. Martin Lund, "Rules for 9 September 2004", 13 Sep 2004
• Q: I am a Mantis player using the Castle of the Wasp stronghold. I have an overlayed Tsuruchi Nobumoto XP in play and used his action so that he is Cavalry and he has attached a Shinjo Horsebow. The following statements are true and exhaustive to the best of my knowledge.
  A: I went through the rather exhaustive list, and everything seemed perfectly reasonable and accurate with only one caveat that I could see. Martin Lund, "Rules for 11 July 2004", 15 Jul 2004
• Q: 13) I cannot announce the use of the Ranged 4 on the Shinjo Horsebow and either of Nobby's Ranged attacks, even if I intend to use the stronghold trait to prevent him bowing to perform one of the ranged attacks.
  A: This one I do not agree with. It is true that you can not pay two bowing costs with one unbowed Personality, but if you can waive one of those costs it should not be an issue.
  In the same respect, you can declare an Action that requires discarding the Imperial Favor as a cost even if you have no Imperial Favor to discard, provided you can and do introduce some other effect to either waive or fulfill that cost - like Acquiring Favor, Commanding Favor, etc. One Koku is also used in a similar method.
  The same thing goes for using a Ranged Attack that requires more bowing than one Personality can provide: Waive bowing for the first ability and bow for the second, thereby paying or waiving all costs involved in all aspects of the Combined Ranged Attack Action. Martin Lund, "Rules for 11 July 2004", 15 Jul 2004
• Q: Is activating the second ability on the Shinjo Horsebow the personality performing the action or the bow performing the action?
  A: "2. Actions on an Item, Spell, or Ancestor are performed by its Personality." (Diamond Edition Rulebook, pg 71) Martin Lund, "Rules for 5 July 2004", 7 Jul 2004
• Q: For example, can I (presuming Moto Latomu has a Shinjo Horsebow)...
  A: None of the examples will work. You can't use Shinjo Horsebow at the same time as Latomu. Latomu's Ranged Attack is part of a Reaction, while Shinjo Horsebow only produces Ranged Attacks as a Battle Action.
  "The combined actions' types must all be the same, and the cards must all be able to make a ranged attack at that time and at the intended target." (Diamond Edition Rulebook, pg 90, "Making Ranged Attacks") Martin Lund, "Rules for 5 July 2004", 7 Jul 2004
• Q: Can you combine the 2 effects of the shinjo Horsebow into 1 range attack of strength 6?
  A: No. Combining is only an option when two or more cards are involved; i.e. attacks printed in ink on two card (which performs the attack doesn't matter). Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 5 November 2003", 5 Nov 2003
• Q: Tsuruchi Sho has a Shinjo Horsebow and the Cavalry trait. Can I use him to make a ranged attack of 2 without bowing him and then raise this ranged attack about 4 by bowing him for the Shinjo Horsebow?
  A: Sure. Vaughn Derderian, "Rules for July 22nd, 2003", 22 Jul 2003
• Q: Hey I just joined the list today and I have a general question.I searched the archive(briefly)and the new rules sheet from H&E but couldn't find anything that put my mind at ease. It is my understanding that a cavalry personality with a Shinjo Horsebow can bow to perform one ranged attack and then bow the Shinjo Horsebow to perform a second ranged attack. My question is this according the the H&E rulesheet any action performed by an item, spell, or ancestor is performed by the personality, then how can the previously mentioned cavalry personality's Shinjo Horsebow bow for a second ranged attack? The personality is bowed and should not be able to perform actions.
  A: The rule is that actions on bowed cards cannot be used. There is no rule that bowed Personalities cannot perform actions. Jeff Alexander, "post for 24 April 2003", 25 Apr 2003
• Q: If I have a Mukami/Tsuruchi Nobumoto with an attached Shinjo Horsebow, can I bow the Horsebow for a RA2, then Mukami to combine for a RA 5, then send him home as per his action?
  A: Yes. Jeff Alexander, "post for 24 April 2003", 25 Apr 2003
• Q: Moto Chen's hanging around with a Dai-Kyu and a Shinjo Horsebow. Which of the following combined attacks can he make? A. Five without Bowing. (Dai-Kyu + Horsebow)
  A: Yes. Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 22 April 2003", 23 Apr 2003
• Q: I would just like to clarify the way in which Shinjo Horsebow works.
  I have been told that provided you bow the personality for the ranged 4 attack first, the bow is still capable of producing its own ranged 2 attack.
  A: That is correct. Jeff Alexander, "post for 4 April 2003", 5 Apr 2003
• Q: Now this begs the question...can you combine the two ranged attacks on the Shinjo Horsebow since they have different costs?
  A: No, because they both come from the Horsebow, and multiple attacks from the same card cannot combine. Jeff Alexander, "post for 3 February 2003", 4 Feb 2003
• Q: The breakdown:
  1) If I was right, and bowed Personalities can't perform any actions, then it is not possible to bow the Shinjo Horsebow for a ranged attack if its Personality is bowed.
  2) The Personality's being bowed only prevents him from performing actions on his card, and as such he can perform actions on his Items, Spells, and/or Ancestors as long as he need not bow as a cost of performing those actions.
  A: #2 is right, although a special exception is made in the case of Spells. Jeff Alexander, "post for 4 December 2002", 5 Dec 2002
• Q: Shinjo Horsebow + some Cavalry guy. Can I bow the Horsebow for a ranged 2, then bow the Personality for a ranged 4 in my next action even though the item on which the ability is printed is bowed?
  A: No. If the Horsebow is bowed, neither of its actions can be used. Jeff Alexander, "post for 3 December 2002", 4 Dec 2002
• Q: 1) I have the Horsebow attached to a cavalry Personality. May I bow the Personality for the Ranged 4, then bow the Horsebow for the Ranged 2, and combine them?
  A: No. Jeff Alexander, "post for 3 December 2002", 4 Dec 2002