Versatile Army

Legend of the Five Rings card from Celestial Edition, Honor's Veil, Ivory Edition, Three Dynasties

Card Type

Strategy

Gold Cost

0

Card Text

This ability's Gold cost is 0 if you control both a Cavalry unit and an Infantry unit at this battlefield.
Battle, : Straighten or bow a target Personality.

Focus Value

1

Legality

A Brother's Destiny (Ivory Edition), A Brother's Destiny (Twenty Festivals), Destroyer War (Celestial), Race for the Throne (Samurai), Three Dynasties

Deck

Fate

Printings

Rulings

• Erratum: Reads, "Versatile Army 0G 1FV Battle: Pay 3 Gold unless you control both an Infantry unit and a Cavalry unit at the current battlefield: Straighten or bow a target Personality." [MRP, Celestial Edition, 29 June 2009] Comprehensive Rules, Celestial Edition, with specific card rulings, final version, February 2012, p. 163

Rules Q&A

• Q: I was wondering what exactly qualified as an infantry unit. Is it any non-cavalry unit or is it only a unit where neither the personality or followers have cavalry. If I had 2 Moto Yao-tsu at a battlefield and one had Fearless Heavy Infantry attached do I control both a cavalry unit and an infantry unit?
  Note that a “Cavalry unit” is one in which the Personality and all Followers, if any, have the Cavalry keyword (see p. 63).
  Infantry: This term refers to a Personality or Follower who does not have the Cavalry keyword. It is not itself a keyword.
  A unit has a keyword (Cavalry, Ninja) when the Personality and all Followers each have that keyword.
  Versatile Army This ability's Gold cost is 0 if you control both a Cavalry unit and an Infantry unit at this battlefield.
  A: A Cavalry card is one with the Cavalry Keyword. An Infantry card one which is not Cavalry.
  A Cavalry unit is unit in which the Personality and any Followers all have the Cavalry keyword. An Infantry unit one which is not Cavalry: that is, the Personality or at least one of his Followers is not Cavalry. Alex Jones, "Versatile Army", 19 May 2015
• Q: Political Reaction: Before a player pays an action’s gold cost, bow one of your target Courtiers: The player may choose to raise that Gold cost by 2. If he does not choose this, he loses 2 Honor.
  A: - Marty Lund Deputy Rules Monkey Martin Lund, "Versatile Army and Private Trader", 28 Feb 2008
• Q: Gold Cost, when referred to as a card’s stat, is a stat that initially determines the amount of Gold needed to pay to bring the card into play. Example: “Target a card with 7 or more Gold Cost;” “This card has -2 Gold Cost if you are a Crane Clan player”
  Gold cost, when referred to in the context of paying a cost or bringing a card into play, is the temporary amount of Gold required to pay on that occasion, which may be initially derived from the Gold Cost stat. Example: “Bring him into play, reducing his Gold cost by 2”
  A: In the case of Private Trader you're looking at the second type of reference (the one you pay for), not the card-stat reference.
  There are Action cards with abilities that list Gold Costs specific to that ability, circumstance, or chosen option. Versatile Army is one such card. Charge of the First Legion is another example of a different implementation. Martin Lund, "Versatile Army and Private Trader", 28 Feb 2008
• Q: Open: Pay 20 Gold: Bring all face-down Personalities attached to your Provinces into play, ignoring costs. Limited: If any other player has at least 35 Family Honor, bring up to 2 face-down Personalities attached to your Provinces into play, ignoring costs.
  A: One card with a "0" Gold cost stat. If you play the Open ability, the Action has a Gold Cost (and yes, that's a "Gold cost on an action card") of 20. If you play the Limited ability, the Action has a Gold Cost of 0. Martin Lund, "Versatile Army and Private Trader", 28 Feb 2008
• Q: Regarding this : viewtopic.php?f=59&t=65994
  And considering this : Will * Reads, "Will *G 1FV Dark Virtue Battle: If there are any enemy units at the current battlefield, target a dead Samurai Personality you own: Bring him into play there, paying 2 less Gold and ignoring Honor Requirements." [MRP, Samurai Edition, 25 July 2007] * The gold paid is the cost of the Personality, not Will. [ML, 9 November 2007]
  And this entry in the cost section of the Comprehensive rules (this is the only place where I find a reference to the location of the gold cost of a card, so it may not be relevant): Additionally, the Gold cost of an Action card, found in the gold coin symbol, is a mandatory cost of taking any action that appears on that card.
  Why does Private Trader pays 3 for Versatile Army? There is no Gold Cost in the "coin" symbol of the card, it's a cost in the cost section, requiring Gold. Or maybe a better definition of what is a Gold Cost is in order?
  A: Don't try to extend how Will works to any other card. The whole reason that there is an entry in the wiki for that specific card is that Will, specifically, is not worded quite as it should be. Zen Faulkes, "Versatile Army and Private Trader", 28 Feb 2008
• Q: Does Private Trader produce three gold towards paying the three gold needed for Versatile Army?
  A: Yes, you are "paying for a Gold cost on an Action card." Doruk Özaydın, "Versatile Army and Private Trader", 28 Feb 2008