head to head
vs
Age of EmpiresvsKnights of Honor II: Sovereign
Age of Empires leans Optimization (Mind & Math); Knights of Honor II: Sovereign leans Optimization (Mind & Math).
Age of EmpiresKnights of Honor II: Sovereign
Axis by axis
Execution5 vs 3
Age of Empires leans harder on execution: APM and micro under pressure
Reads6 vs 6
Even - both lean on reads about the same.
Variance4 vs 5
Knights of Honor II: Sovereign leans harder on variance: Kingdom event cards and rebel uprising timing add meaningful uncertainty
Optimization8 vs 7
Age of Empires leans harder on optimization: Build orders and eco timing dominate
Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.