*I* “died” a lot. Like I said, I’m an old guy pushing 50. But still managed to win.
Watched one of my nephews shred the thing that took me two weeks to beat. He crushed it the third time he tried (i.e., same day). Wasn’t even close.
As to your question, the answer is “yes” if you have a sufficiently strong economy and culture to absorb the losses until you go for the “kill.”
Will it necessarily work? Maybe not. Hope we don’t have to find out. Actually hope the AIs are on OUR side!
Ender’s Game.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1731141/?ref_=nv_sr_1