Another [censored] part about these thugs is that I was just outside Solitude so ran inside.. and the [censored] imperial soldiers wouldn't help me.. EVEN THOUGH I'M A [censored] IMPERIAL. (EDIT to clarify, I mean part of the Legion)
I am playing on Expert and was only at level 7, but playing so if I die I have to spend 10 days injured in a town, cant wait and cant sleep more than 14 hours. Each hit from the leader of these guys would take about 60hp and I ended up using a bunch of poisen and health pots just to survive.
/rant