RFCM

As I read the assault rules in conjunction with the "Shooting When Provoked" rules, a unit being charged in a Short Assault will always be able to issue Opportunity Fire ("Opportunity shooting is allowed when the active player either starts a turn in face contact or moves into face contact").  Is this correct?

If so, then conceivably a passive unit could halt a charge against it by inflicting a hit against the charging unit and then successfully "trading in" the hit result for a pinned result, correct?

My buddy and I played our first game of Hammerin' Iron using Scenario 6 "Ironclads at Hampton Roads."  I expected to see a battle with both ships blazing away rather ineffectually at each other.  Instead, the Monitor ran rings around the Virginia and used its turret-based 360 degree arc of fire to inflict hit after hit on the Virginia before using its superior speed to avoid the Virginia's more limited arc of fire.  Even with twice the hit points of the Monitor, the Virginia was badly damaged and surrendered quickly.  Did my buddy and me miss something in the rules that might have made for a better chance for the Virginia (we wondered about ramming, but the Monitor easily stayed outside of ramming distance the entire game)?

Also, we plan to move on to the "Scenarios For Short Games" and are wondering if the intent for these scenarios is to use the full panoply of rules in HI, e.g., the usual amount of islands & sandbars, a fort, and Assets.  Or is the intent just to throw the designated ships out and let them have at each other? 

Thanks,
Van

I'm about to walk the plank and get started in Pieces of Eight.  I recall from one of the videos that 9 is about the right number of ships to acquire.  I see there are a lot of choices.  Which ships should I start with for each side?  Then there is the issue of those microscopic guns and crew.  For the nine ships, how many crew packs and how many gun packs should I order?  Thanks for the help!

Van