Sounds like you were well into the Copper Age and perhaps beyond before Hearth & Home.

Sounds like you started over with a new viking and new world after H&H release and have been blind-sided by the increased resilience and numbers of enemies and perhaps the re-balancing of food, weapons and armor.

Same thing happened to me. My pre-H&H experience was not entirely transferable to H&H. I had to relearn some basic play skills to prevail. I doubt you are as uncoordinated and pig-headed as I am, so I am sure you can also.

Now I am walking on eggshells in the Swamp. Been to the Mountains twice, once to get obliterated on the first steep slope by two wolves, and once on a successful corpse tun. Wolves apparently are not inclined to hang around on steep slopes to see if some dunderhead will come to retrieve his corpse.