As far as the 1 skull mission, be aware that the number of skulls are a general guide, and not an absolute guarantee. The Merc ambush, for instance, is a random event that can happen on any delivery mission, regardless of skulls. You may also get a one skull orc camp mission only to find you’re facing a Warlord and an army of Warriors, rather than Young Orcs and maybe a Berserker.
In a single player game, there's no such thing as cheating. It's merely "creative manipulation of the default settings"!