that’s what a Jarl is for, to jump into the ring himself :)
although, the Gnomes definitely boosted their damage.
they boosted it because they have good defense (lots of armor)). The developers, relying on this, created two expansions: one focused on Defense (Gnomes), and the other on Attack (Orcs).)
It’s just strange that the Orcs have low HP. They usually had more.