Well i normally play this game in Challenging or Tough.. i likes to win.
However, for the fun of it i started a Suicidal Game just to see how hard it really is.
In my first try i ended up next to the Drengin who proceeded to build a gigantic military (along with every other race apart from myself who was struggling to pay off my new colonies) and continually demanded me to pay to stay alive. I tried to be cleaver and use influence star bases to gain a wee advantage but this only made them hostile. Anyway long story short. They decleared war, along with 2 other civs within 2 turns.. (go figure??) and i was anihilated. End of THAT game. 
Anyway i decided to try again. This time round i used a map with rare planets and a tight star configuration, which meant every race only had there home worlds to live on. Soo.. Influence starbase time!! After taking over the arceans i managed to start catching up to the other races in research and military buy doin some cleaver tech trading, especially with the minor races. Coupling this with paying off the two strongest militarys to spend there effort on each other, i managed to get into third place, and then first once one of these races got destroyed and i managed to influence absorb another. It took me a few years but i eventually managed to invade a few other races and use influence on others. Was quite fun and ended up with 39000 points (which im sure is pretty crap compared to others).
Not too sure how you could win a suicidal game on a universe with abundant habitible planets. Any hints or ideas?