Feudal Epic - taking the village first

Is it possible to take the village first before conquering your own kingdom and then holding it long enough to repel any attacks? I tried this recently in Game 7003386 and it failed miserably.
I had good luck on the first turn to defeat the 10 neutrals. I had 4 troops left over. However the opponent opposite me also had good luck and conquered most of his kingdom on the first round.
On the next round I got only 4 troops which was not enough to conquer the village. My opponent got 7 troops and was able to eliminate the 10 neutrals.
On the third round I decided to go for bust and try again to take the village. No luck. I then opted to cut my losses and took another kingdom territory and moved my remaining troops to a defensive position.
On the fourth round I got 5 troops. I conquered two more kingdom territories and put 15 troops in a defensive position. My opponent had taken the village.
On the fifth round I got eliminated
A lesson hard learned. I figure my opponent did this with 22 troops (11 initial + 3 village bonus + 8 deployment). This was good luck.
Some my question is - has anyone managed to pull it off ie. take the village first before conquering their kingdom?
I had good luck on the first turn to defeat the 10 neutrals. I had 4 troops left over. However the opponent opposite me also had good luck and conquered most of his kingdom on the first round.
On the next round I got only 4 troops which was not enough to conquer the village. My opponent got 7 troops and was able to eliminate the 10 neutrals.
On the third round I decided to go for bust and try again to take the village. No luck. I then opted to cut my losses and took another kingdom territory and moved my remaining troops to a defensive position.
On the fourth round I got 5 troops. I conquered two more kingdom territories and put 15 troops in a defensive position. My opponent had taken the village.
On the fifth round I got eliminated

Some my question is - has anyone managed to pull it off ie. take the village first before conquering their kingdom?