I must have missed the point where I said we would wait for night. (bolding mine)
I apologise for being a sucker, happy to let orcs warn their friends, over-confident and bull-headed.
Please feel free to take over the planning.
An ambush assumes you have someone there to, well you know, ambush. Attacking in the day is great if they are there. If they are not, what do we do then. Only a really stupid Orc would lead his group into the ambush to spring it.
Your plan is fine apart from the certain lack of trust issue, which completely underpins your entire idea. That and the fact you refuse to see any drawbacks with it.
Renee, it is a shame you cannot Detect Lie, because it would assist greatly.
Gil-Gandel, Gwaelur, is there anything that the Orcs would swear by for it to be binding to them.
What Exit?, is it safe to assume our strategy sessions are out of earshot of the orcs?
I don’t think so, it seems they have got a little loud at times.
The Sea-Knight, having slept but fitfully, squints at the horzon and wonders how long until daybreak. He says, “It appears that consensus has once again eluded us, my friends, despite a most earnest discussion and a candid exchange of views. Gil-Gandel, you bear the weight of command for our party. What are your orders, O noble Elf-captain?”
We rendezvous with the cavalry. We agree to the proposal of cooperation with the orcs. And we draw up contingency plans to get our feet out of the fire in case of disaster.
All the objections that have been presented are sound ones, and history is full of tales of betrayal. Nevertheless I do believe that many of our present enemies would gladly retreat into the obscurity from which they came, if they only had the chance, and I would as soon fight our foes in the open - in daylight, if possible, for your sakes if not for mine 
- rather than burrow through the tunnels. As someone has said, we should want a company of Gwaelur’s folk for such work, especially if they all make as light of wounds and poison as he does.
We need to discuss where the proposed ambush shall take place, to reconnoitre in stealth, to learn the lay of the land as thoroughly as possible and leave the way open for a fighting withdrawal as well as ensuring that there are no opportunities for our foes to conceal additional forces. And, ideally, we need our cavalry reinforcements close at hand where they can join the battle as needed or at least draw us from the fray. When they arrive today, I need to see if I can borrow a horn or trumpet.
Oh, and we change our lodgings as soon as we have sent our Orc allies off, and we do not tell them where we are to be found.
We need to discuss with them how we shall distinguish them and any other “rebels” from our enemies. A sash or headband of cloth in some conspicuous colour would help - to be donned when the fighting starts.
No objections. Now I can get some sleep!
An orc that the orcs have seemed to have chosen as a representative to speak for them says, "Brakna!, we have heard some of your um, talk. We want to work with you. If you give a small, whass word, distraction, no sacrifice, no, thing to draw awareness but only fake front?”
Renee suggests, “Decoy?”
The orc, “Yes, give decoy for us to send krakan Uruks after, then you collapse on them. Meanwhile we kill remaining fraggin Uruks in our caves and flee leaving easy marks for large group to chase us. You kill; we go east, never seen again.”
There are several good reasons why I should volunteer for this. One is that a commander should never ask that of his men which he is unwilling to do himself. Another is that it will not be hard to persuade orcs to chase me. Still a third is that I can run or ride the fastest. The choice appears to make itself.
Renee asks, “Don’t we want to catch these Uruks on the plains and not in the mountains? Why not have some of the mounted troops acts as the decoy. You seem more useful as part of the ambush with your bow.”
Hmm, ok, now this sounds better.
I think using the cavalry as bait is a better idea, they can probably run faster than you Gil-Gandel.
Wake me when you want breakfast 
Almost as important as their greater speed is their heavier armor, which will be vital in surviving the HK’s arrows. This is a reasonable, if risky, plan.
Renee, “We must still be missing something, what else do we need for this plan?”
Something tells me our GM is dropping us a hint.
Thoroncir says, “We still need the cavalry themselves, my lady, of course. But is there something else you have in mind?”
It seems to me that all the shouting has discouraged Ghân from speaking further, but I sense he has more to say - and the party did nominate him as my second-in-command. Ghân?
Ghân knows the party don’t trust orcs, but there is no alternative sensible suggestion so far, so he offers the party more on the rebellion / ambush plan.
Firstly the captured orcs suggest we can lure some leaders out on a decoy.
We need to find out what would tempt the leaders, how many there would be and whether Hunter-Killers would be present.
Although Gil-Gandel has again shown his leadership qualities by offering to be the decoy 
, he may literally be too fast for the orcs. Given many of them (admittedly not so much the Uruk-Hai) dislike daylight, they would also be wary of pursuing a quarry they couldn’t easily catch. (Their most likely strategy would be to fire arrows at Gil-Gandel’s horse, aiming to dismount him. 
The same difficulty apples to Cavalry, except the orcs might well be thinking that where there is one Cavalryman, there are many more…)
Ghân therefore thinks that if we use a live decoy, we need to make the orcs want to chase it, not shoot it. Surprisingly this leads to the conclusion that we could ‘offer up’:
- Gwaelur (a known orcish enemy with good armour v missiles, but not fast)
- Ghân (an interesting stranger - though they may shoot first and ask questions later)
- Renee (sadly they would want her alive)
Secondly the orc troops have offered to kill the remaining leaders. This is pretty easy to verify safely – the troops bring out the bodies. (We can increase the chances of co-operation by offering to Detect Magic on all the dead leaders and giving the troops some share of the treasure.)
Finally the troops offer to leave tracks (quite expected anyway if they are fleeing en masse), thus bringing a large orc force out in pursuit – which we and the Cavalry can promptly hammer.
Ghân asks the troop spokesman:
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which ‘prey’ (give examples as above) would your leaders most want to chase?
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how far out of the lair would they come?
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hown many would emerge?
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how many entrances are there nearby?
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whereabouts are good ambush spots? (for a small party ambushing a small party)
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where could we hide a large force in reserve? (the Cavalry)
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where could they bring the remaining leader’s bodies to?
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how long would we have before the pursuit started?
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whereabouts are good ambush spots? (for a large force ambushing a large force)
In the interests of co-operation, I think I might be best suited for that role. Not too mention having done it once already.
I’m non-threatening and they are likely to be slightly faster than me, which does mean they are likely to try and catch me instead of fire arrows at me. Not to mention that an outright hit would probably kill me instead of wounding which would be no use to them.
Oh grief, what am I talking myself into. :smack:
Thoroncir is willing to do it, too, but admits that he might not be the best-suited for decoy work.
I have the orcs answering the questions in cleaned up Westron again.
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which ‘prey’ (give examples as above) would your leaders most want to chase?One prey will not be enough, we need to report seeing something too tough for us, like a dozen riders or perhaps your party.
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how far out of the lair would they come?
In the daytime, maybe a few miles, at night up to 10 miles. -
hown many would emerge?
Depends on what we report seeing. -
how many entrances are there nearby?
Exits and entrances at all around the mountain. There must be at 6 nearby, maybe more. -
whereabouts are good ambush spots? (for a small party ambushing a small party)
No place where we or you could lead the Uruks to. They will use other paths to avoid spots. -
where could we hide a large force in reserve? (the Cavalry)
You need to just catch them in the open and run them down. -
where could they bring the remaining leader’s bodies to?
I don’t understand the question. -
how long would we have before the pursuit started?
Pursuit of us or those attacking. The Uruks will drive the lesser orcs to pursue us at great speed. But if they are torn between chasing you or us, I am not sure. -
whereabouts are good ambush spots? (for a large force ambushing a large force)
Out on the plains is all I can tell you. They will probably know if the horseman approach the mountains.
Ghân’s comments/questions are in purple