I had 5 hearthlings cornered by 3 wolves, all 5 died because they were cowering. At some point the cowering hearthlings should either dash through their attackers or begin to fight back. All 5 dieing, although, understandable was a bit of game breaker as the current “lock” is at 20 Hearthlings.
Yes I’ve found the file to increase this, but I have not tested it yet.