[OG_Gleep]

2. Scouts are just stealthy commanders that can't command troops. There are many stealth commanders in the game that can act as scouts. Spys are basically scouts that have a special order "instill Uprising". Assasins are stealth commanders with the special order "Assasinate Enemy Commander", which will initiate a 1on1 attack vs an enemy commander located in that province. As far as control and placement and such, they are classified as commanders as far as mechanics are concerned.

3. I don't know what treshold "pretender" indies start to appear at, but one of my MP games is set to 6, and I have seen 2 such provinces so far.