Orc army

[Rosleaw]

So I'm Dming for a group of 6 characters lvl 7 and they need to defend a little hamlet that's in a mountain pass
something like the Obould attack against the mythril hall companions in that little mage tower hamlet only low level
they will have help from near towns, but they are obiusly out numbered.
any sugestions abouts how to build taht army? some handbook or book about sizing? thanks and sorry for the spelling, i actually speak spanish

[Diefje]

Get a wall of something up, so Orcs don't come in from all sides.

Get archers up where they are hard to hit. Get the level 1 commoners to shoot some bows too. Artillery if you have it, for area damage. This includes magic users.

Once a breach in the wall happens, move your ground army there. You want to maintain this funnel, so they can't come in all together.

[Flickerdart]

Heroes of Battle and Miniatutres Handbook have a lot of helpful stuff for running large-scale engagements. The best way to handle it is to let the PCs take out priority targets while their allies hold the line, and obviously every enemy commander or installation they take out makes that a little easier.

Which means that you are going to have to make those things. Aside from the regular Orc soldier (use the ones from the MM, since the grunts won't matter, or maybe give them a level in Barbarian instead of Warrior) you're going to need siege engine squads (and a good-sized chunk of land the PCs have to clear before getting there, while being peppered with rocks or ballista bolts), elite troopers (5th level Barbarians), lieutenants (8th level Warblades/Bards with Song of the White Raven) and the general (10th level Paladin of Tyranny 3/Hexblade 4 with Dark Companion ACF/Divine Crusader 3 with a domain that offers plenty of spells with saving throws - which the PCs will have heavy penalties on due to the Companion, Curse and Aura of Despair).

You don't even have to have their allies on the field ever, and in fact doing so would just take up time. Just have them flit from one major point to another (each one should be a CR-appropriate encounter, and their mobility should be far greater than anything low-level orcs can have). Once a certain amount of rounds have passed, the enemy general will notice them and come after them - but every target they've destroyed so far means that their allies have had an easier time of their battle, and will be able to spare forces to aid them. Once the general is defeated, the remaining orcs rout.

[The Boz]

I'd suggest you fill the army with weak orcs that have at most 25hp, and sprinkle around some higher-level sergeants and stuff like that. Enable a lot of terrain modification to allow specific duels and fights to occur, so that every class feels good about themselves.

[Rosleaw]

Ok that's gettin a solution in 10 minutes. thanks guys for all you never dissapoint me :D i will repost a battle diary or something just for fun