Fullork345 wrote:I don't think it's necessary to treat the Summon Orcs spell as containing a typo. Rather, it's a spell with more limited uses that should be judged against the two Quests that the Orc Shaman appears in. In Lair of the Orc Shaman, the benefit of the spell is Orc placement/movement. A pair of Heroes could quickly put the Orc Shaman at risk on his right flank, but it is unlikely a third Hero will have enough movement to attack him that early. Summon Orcs would then be useful to shore up the vulnerable right (top) flank with extra Orcs without compromising the Shaman's left flank. Also, the table makes it possible for a pair of Orcs to be caught behind the Heroes, making them pretty useless for saving their boss. Summon Orcs can put them in a more tactical position as a meat shield, allowing the Shaman more casting opportunities.
The Summon Orcs spell comes into its own during the following Quest, The Final Conflict. The Orc Shaman starts on the board and is free to move and open doors, thus revealing Orc-summoning possiblilities before the Heroes have a chance to stop him. Summoned Orcs could then be placed behind battle lines, where their attacks could do more harm. Also, getting two more Orcs into an otherwise bottlenecked room makes Sharpen Blades or Shield of Protection all the more useful.
But can't all that be done without the spell? Once again the orcs can move normally. And the spell requires line of site. if it said take them from anywhere on the board and place them within his line of site like the goblin does, it would still have a use.
To each his own I guess though.
Okay, upon taking a second look, I gotta agree with ya on the first of the Quests, Lair of the Orc Shaman. There will probably only be three Heroes trying to trap the Shaman as one will be teleported a far distance away. Combine that with the fact that the Shaman can move through Orcs, and Morcar can use normal movement to pretty much protect him to best advantage as Orcs move through other monsters to reinforce for the Shaman.
In the second of the Quests, The Final Conflict, my opinion would stand up better, but the point is moot as I'm gonna reverse it. I think you're right, there is a typo. The poor wording doesn't mention at all where to place the Orcs. I think your interpretation is correct. The wording should parallel that of the Summon Goblin spell card. I see drathe has included Sjeng's edited card in the files. Nice find.
The original card's wording:
