I would DEARLY enjoy hearing how the level 2 party went through 20 orcs. The problem with anecdotal evidence is that, sometimes, it never happened in the first place.
Not exactly that hard by the book....
While you couldnt start with plate armour, it was certainly possible by 2nd level especially if one used published modules. See for example, this thread and notice the amount of treasure the PCs have by the end of that level...
Full plate cost 4-10K gp which was way out of the price range of the 1st level adventurer. Depending on the module you used, it might not be until 3rd level that you had enough gold for that...
However, Field plate was only 2k and that CERTAINLY was buyable by 2nd level in your typical adventure....
Field plate + shield gave an AC of 1 while an orc only had a THACO of 19. Being able to hit only on a 18+ means that yeah, a 2nd level fighter could kill orcs pretty much whole day and not worry. Keep in mind as well, that the PHB itself even mentions that field plate + shield is an acceptable amount of gear for a 1st level fighter (check what the elite units a fighter got when he reached "name" level)
You could certainly change the base assumptions of 1e/2e (and as evidenced many times on this board, that's what everyone did) but by RAW, a 2nd level fighter certainly could stomp 20 orcs into the ground and be scratched only once...
This I think is why some posters don't believe the "1e was really brutal in combat" memory. If you actually play by the rules, any class that could wear armour certainly could tank most monsters way before 9th level.
Full plate + shield equalled AC of 0 and this is all mundane gear. Even a Hill giant needed to roll a 9 to hit that. Throw in a ring of protection here, some magic armour and shield there and by the time the PCs actually got to run "Against the Giants", the armour wearing PCs would only be hit on a 15 of 16
re:
Classes feel the same...
Personally, I think this is not true at all. I think the WOTC designers realized that designing separate classes for everything is not needed.
Ex: The beguiler, dread necromancer and the warmage are reskins of each other.
Does anyone think they play the same?
Similarly, a warblade, crusader and a swordsage are variations on the same mechanics, yet many people think they play much more differently than say a paladin, fighter and a ranger play....