[Duncan_Frost]

I read somewhere that you can also have a 'retinue' that is recruited for free when you recruit a commander, rather than using #onebattlespell.

I can't remember exactly, but the process is something like giving the commander the attribute that creates freespawn and also giving it a #secondshape without the freespawn. What happens is that the commander is recruited and creates the freespawn during turn resolution, and then turns into the second form, giving you a one-time group of troops.