Well, yes.
Any plan can fail for no reason.
Most recent example - I gave Bandar Log another try recently; as I stormed a castle of my neighbour, replay showed that my SC goddess wiped TC cavalry clean, but on the global map I've lost, my goddess has retreated (no afflictions, just ran away), all my sacreds and and elephants perished.
I'm wondering how could you nail our invading golems'n'rudras army though? Just curiousty; domes tend to be a double-edged blade, they prevent its owner from reinforcing his castle just as they protect it from teleporting enemies.