Has anyone actually LOST before

[Zarax]

I lost once as the Danish in my modded game...
I was quite busy with repealing the horde from my eastern territories and forgot to keep in check the spanish as they were becoming the superpower...
By the time i vanquished the horde they had more or less 30000 soldiers and annihilated any other AI opposition...
Despite inflicting their armies losses of at least 6 to 1 i was slowly but inhexorably overwhelmed, until they reached my scandinavian production centers and cut them out...
My last stand saw about 600 Danish (mostly huskarls) fighting against 8000 spanish troops.
It was an epic battle, with heroic troops (average valor was 12) fighting against swarm after swarm...
I almost had an hope to vanquish them until they brought a couple of lancer units in the fields, which managed to break my lines...

[Butcher]

I have lost first turn as the Turks on High when my royal family was wiped out by the Byz's.. oops.

[CherryDanish]

Only once as the English due to my king dying without an heir. I replayed a saved game and salvaged the campaign, but technically, I should have lost.

I have lost fights, but never the war.

[ShadesWolf]

Generally the answer is no, I have had a number of campaigns when I was testing for my faction guides that proved how easy it could be to lose.

It also shows how in certain situations the AI always does the same thing.

[Yoyoma1910]

I lost the first time I played. I was the French... and perhaps I had drank a little too much wine in order to feel the part better.

[DisruptorX]

I lost many times when I was learning how to play, one AI factions, usually the Spanish or French, would become an Uber-power, and I couldn't field enough men to prevent them from crushing me. Also, Beating Egypt with the Almohads was impossible for me as a beginner, as they could easily rush me with camels and n00bian spearmen.

Once I better learned the intricacies of the game, I have only lost a few times, always from lack of heirs.

[Sir Toma of Spain]

I have lost 3 times:
once as the English just as i was getting the upper hand against the french and my heir was 3 turns from maturing my king died and i lost.

another time i was the russians and owned the almost the entire world except the papacy and a few islands when my king died leaving his 52 year old brother to rule without any heirs. I nearly hit the screen with a hammer.

i also lost once as the italians when after taking naples from byz and serbia from rebels while at war with the byzantines and sicilians when the byzantines attacked serbia and annialated my entire fleet causing civil war. Unfortunately i had never had a civil war and didn't read the message and sided withe the rebels who only had corsica. then it ended very quickly