Can the game handle 40+ enemies at once?

[darkely]

I had a question about how many enemies can go after the player at once. I want the player to be chased by 40+ animated enemies (with custom sounds too). The issues I think I'm going to have...

*The enemies will run into each other (I will have to make the map larger)
*Is there a set limit to how many enemies that can pursue the player at once?
*The biggest issue at hand will the game lag? (the models are not that complex the colors are simple and the animation is not that complex either)

The reason I want 40+ (a large amount is to give the player the feeling of a mob chasing them if at all possible)