Wait a tic... there is indeed still a mathematically possible way to get that Great Library first. That would be a Golden Age!
I demand Rome withdraw from my territory, and they declare war of course. I attack a Roman spear-settler pair in my territory, losing my one warrior, having one Impi retreat, and the second Impi win. Golden Age! I use the commerce boost to research Masonry at max, since we're, uh, going to, like, NEED some walls.
Heh, Rome loses an archer-settler pair in my northern tundra to barbs!
Now Rome's starting to get a few units my way. Ulundi would really like to build walls THIS turn to defend against those three archers incoming, but it has no shields in the box, and can't whip out 2 citizens for the walls. But what I can do is disband a scout that came back home to get 2 shields, then whip one citizen. :)
875: Rome will now talk, but wants 89 + 3/turn for peace. Then they attack with that archer stack, which all loses. Now they want only 80 gold for peace, but I see no need to do so just yet. Ulundi would hold out against several more small archer stacks over the next few turns. I get a couple elite units, but no Great Leader.
775: An Impi beats a Roman warrior-settler pair in the north. But a Roman spear is on my spices, and will pillage it. So I settle for peace, me paying 40 gold.
590: The Golden Age is over, and the Great Library is still 10 turns away. I establish an embassy with the Aztecs, which gives me a peek at their GL progress... it's due in five turns. Nuts. Oh well, so much for this game; on to another Epic. Well, I'll play until they actually do finish the GL.
Index | Conclusion