head to head
vs
Age of EmpiresvsTotal War: Arena
Age of Empires leans Optimization (Mind & Math); Total War: Arena leans Reads (Mind & Math).
Age of EmpiresTotal War: Arena
Axis by axis
Execution5 vs 4
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 3
Age of Empires leans harder on variance: Fog of war and map resources
Optimization8 vs 6
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.