3. Hansel has a smaller plunder range.. Still a skimming attack build makes the most gold but if you don't have time to skim hansel makes more.. Plus hansel gets nice asn plunder.. Hansel with one attack building is a nice plunder earner
It takes 15 regen periods to recover from a full unload (60 minutes).
The troop level per that regen period is definitely different based on when the first hit is made.
You can see the timer on your regen clock is always running - even when full. When you make your first hit - and you are halfway through the timer, it adds another 4 minutes regen period to that troop bar.
So no matter how many troops you have left to regen at the end of your regen period, it will not fully replenish until at least 60 minutes after your first hit. You could have 30 troops left to regen and if it isn't at 60 minutes, it will replenish half of them. Which is less than normal.
Assassinating in HTE will not necessarily give one more plunder. Even if it does,the difference will not be too much.(Unless you are a spy build.) So not assassinating during HTE as an attack build will give others a chance to gain more plunder.