Figured it out - half way thru the reinstall the "Generic Patcher" came to mind - I was getting weird screen issues because the Generic Patcher was telling the system to load files in a path that didn't exist any longer.
Further proof even a blind squirrel can find a nut every once in awhile.
Loading time was still improved: 1:50 from launch within uPlay.
@THEBERBSTER: you may want to add another item to your list o' hints: a fresh install will overwrite the existing installation of uPlay which, from what I can tell, is not compatible with Windows 10. I was unable to get the game to launch successfully until I updated the uPlay install.