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This isn't exactly true- plains nomads lost a lot more than they won, but a lost battle didn't lead to conquest of their nation because agrarian armies can't venture too far into the steppe for logistical reasons. To be more specific, an army reliant on feet and hooves can carry about ten days worth of grain. Shifting to higher value foodstuffs or better technology(wagons etc) can stretch this, but not for long enough to carry out an actual military campaign(remember, a foot-and-hoof army travels about ten miles a day- it can travel 100 miles between resupplies). So armies from large, settled empires had to stay near fields growing crops that could support them, or else ports under their control. Thus when ancient China beats a nomadic army, it can't pursue it very far into the steppes. Nomads got around this mostly by having lots of extra sheep to eat; settled societies couldn't afford this because their land is mostly in use for grain production, not pasturage.
Now of course the situation eventually reverses; the US and Russian armies eventually have a long enough logistical tether to defeat the steppe nomads for good. But you'll notice that happens extremely quickly once the US and Russian armies have the logistical tether to fight steppe nomads on their home turf. The pacific railroad opened in 1869 and chief Sitting Bull surrendered in 1881, Quanah Parker in 1875. Nomads lost most of the time but eventually the Lions beat the Patriots and they had essentially unlimited chances until railroads, wagons, firearms, the industrial revolution and the second agricultural revolution combined to give settled societies the capacity to reach out and touch them. And nomad dynasties also didn't last for nearly as long as you think, either; most of Chinese and Persian history is being ruled by native, settled peoples.
I won't say there's no role for assabiyah, hard men, and decadence. But in the real world, quantity usually trumps quality.
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