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Can the blocker bring a site into battle?  Reading over the relevant portion of the Rule Book, I do not see anything that would prevent this...

Quote from: Redemption Rulebook

An unoccupied site is placed in battle with the Hero and the icon box on the unoccupied site contains a matching brigade color in the icon box of the occupied site. The unoccupied site can be added at any time during the battle, but it must come from the player’s territory. If the Hero is defeated in battle, the site returns to the owner’s territory. The special ability on a multi-colored site is active only when the site is in battle and being used to give a Hero access to a site.

This is all I'm seeing that would prevent it. However, forgive me for asking, but what exactly would you gain by sending a site into battle as defense?

It would also allow you to give a hero site access to a LS that wouldn't normally be able to get to. If you were feeling generous (or for other purposes ).

If that's the case, then does that mean that people cannot put their own sites into battle during their rescue attempt unless they are providing access to their opponent's sites? For example, I can't choose to put Nazareth into battle to allow me to deactivate its ability unless it will give me access to a Lost Soul held by my opponent?

Based on the REG quote and the first sentence of the quote from the rulebook given in MJB's first post, I would say that you cannot bring an unoccupied site into battle unless your opponent has an occupied site of matching brigade.

And since we already know that that has been ruled the opposite way, where do we go from here?

Ongoing Special Abilities > Access to Sites > How to Use
Sites must be placed in the Field of Battle to gain access to your opponent’s sites.

This doesn't seem to be limiting the way to use sites.  It is just talking about how to use sites for site access.  For that purpose they must be placed in the Field of Battle.  However, sites obviously can be used for other purposes (ie. capturing a hero to put in Herod's Dungeon), and those don't require sites to be placed in the Field of Battle.

Quote from: Redemption Rulebook

An unoccupied site is placed in battle with the Hero and the icon box on the unoccupied site contains a matching brigade color in the icon box of the occupied site. The unoccupied site can be added at any time during the battle, but it must come from the player’s territory. If the Hero is defeated in battle, the site returns to the owner’s territory. The special ability on a multi-colored site is active only when the site is in battle and being used to give a Hero access to a site.

This also doesn't seem to be a limiting rule as much as it is also an explanation of how sites are added to battle to give site access.  I am not making an official ruling here, just thinking out loud.  But it seems to me that neither of these quotes would prohibit sites from being added to battle while blocking.

At the same time, the precedent has definitely been that you can NOT add sites to battle while blocking.  So are there other passages from the REG or Rulebook that prohibit it?  Or is this just something that is "the way we've always done it"?

Site access is site access.  That's all.  For instance, I could add a site to battle that gives my  male hero access to my opponent's site containing the female-only LS.  I still don't have access to the LS, but I can still add my site to gain access to my opponent's site in case I gain access to the LS another way.

As such, you can add as many empty sites during the battle phase regardless if you are rescuing, blocking, or in a side battle.

Good find, MJB. 

At the same time, the precedent has definitely been that you can NOT add sites to battle while blocking.  So are there other passages from the REG or Rulebook that prohibit it?  Or is this just something that is "the way we've always done it"?

As a follow-up, is this any more or less justified than the new-fangled, "I can add as many sites as I like into battle?" This was (at least for me) a major change from "the way we've always done it."

Quote from: EmJayBee83 on July 21, 2011, 12:36:11 PM

And since we already know that that has been ruled the opposite way, where do we go from here?

LOL. We both know the answer to that question.   

As long as STAMP doesn't join in we should be OK.

Good find, MJB. 

Dang!   

We need an update to this outdated rule on how sites work. It is understood that sites were only used for access because that was what they were origionally intended to do. As Redemption gameplay progressed, new ways on how sites interacted with gameplay purposes were created. aka lepers colony, roman prison, pergenum, kir, herod dungeon, and protect sites.

Herod's dungeon is part of the problem. The rule used to be sites only activated when they were occupied. That way you would either benefit from the sites or they would do nothing.  They had to change it though so that you could actually use Herod's Dungeon.

They could have just made the rule that Single Brigade sites are only active while occupied unless stated otherwise. Would make all of the annoying protect sites MUCH less obnoxious.

Fixed.

Adding my two cents, I got ruled against when I tried to do this at nats 2010.  (I think it was Byron?)

Has this been decided for certain on how it will be ruled at Nationals?