The 'lucky ones' don't spawn excavator-missions during thier first months.
Those do so much score-damage that they negate all efforts during these months (denying bonus money at the end of the month) and even threating you with a "game over" warning.
The unfair part is that you can't do shit against that if these happen to drill outside your radar/airbus reach.
Also I doubt you can fight an excavator-crew with 6 hands and the utmost starting equipment without save-scumming.
With some looted weapons you can deal with them easily, they are just trader guild mooks.
But yeah. you are screwed if they spawn before you can do much about them or out-point the mission effect.
Bloodhounds are fine, if you let them bite you, you deserve to die. Use grav-packs and crafts that can only be entered using elevators (such a green snake) to deny thier melee-attacks.
That's kind of my point - that's all sensible early game tricks to deal with them, but you should not need to be using all the early game tricks against a mook animal when you have freaking power armor, that's ridiculous.
It's as ridiculous as the anti cyberdisc dogs, dunno if that still works.