Just very quickly read through your post...
I'm definitely no expert when it comes to setting up hard drives in WinUAE; personally I still use .ADFs
Maybe this section on the Lemon Amiga website will be of assistance:
http://www.lemonamiga.com/help/tutorial_1/5.php
Also regarding your question about cards I believe you will need to get ROMs for these. Just use Google to find what you require.