I was a 1 mil CS hansel for White_Hand. It was fun for a bit, but I made next to no money in a war, because I had no allies.
Less on the strategy part. What kind of strategy is there in smacking around a NPC ghost? I suppose that, if you can pick a fight with a larger player, you can begin with the strategy, but until you have valid reason for KaW insomnia... There's no point.
You don't need to stay up all the time if warring as a hansel.. If you war all the time, while you're online, you can make cash off the enemy by stealing and pin your troops to be dtw. Before you go offline, you can sell your attack building and let a friend clear you.
Who has the cash to buy anything more than a T2 on a regular basis? Besides that one -lacking- point, you make a good argument.
Not necessarily. In war, unless you're getting spy bombed, you can just pin your troops on quests, then spy farm leisurely.