******Warning Spoiler***** Rare Spawn

[OGCHOG]

So I've been playing an ironman play through on easy which was going fine.   I have played the early game a dozen times and can get through Depot A easily (albeit it is on easy).  My last game was with a sledgehammer character and I ran into a group of folks that generally in this respective zone(Thick, Dirty Angela, Derailed Mike, Colt and the Animal).   They are literally impossible to kill and I got killed by one throwing knife at 350 hit points which i thought to be impossible.   I understand this game has strange peaks in difficultly but this was surprising.  Will I run into groups like this often, maybe they are not a "rare" spawn, and is playing this game on ironman possible?   

[OGCHOG]

I encountered them just south of the compound for the third quest in the main quest line (level 5).  Directly west, I believe, is the first group of lunatics you encounter with the dogs.  The more i think about it, the knife probably missed and i ate an aimed shot, that's probably what killed me which is a little less frustrating.  I haven't made it to late game but I'm assuming the group was at least level 20, Thick with his sledge was hitting me for 200+ on reloads just to test the group.  Hopefully they balance this a tad.

[Bruno]

In exactly the same map, at level 8 or so, I suddenly ran into a group of Ironhead Commandos making soup. Challenging fight to say the least.

[OGCHOG]

Thanks for the feedback! I try to avoid playing through the game with reloads as seemingly unfair fights can become rudimentary once the positioning and mechanics are understood.  Probably kind of a weird way to approach the game, but it keeps it fresh and rewarding as you advance.  I'll keep in mind the difficulty of fights after Depot A, but shouldn't be too bad with thick skull and on easy it is 0 ap to flee the zone.  Thanks again for help!