head to head
vs
Ancient Wars: SpartavsRome: Total War
Ancient Wars: Sparta leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Rome: Total War leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Ancient Wars: SpartaRome: Total War
Axis by axis
Execution4 vs 3
Ancient Wars: Sparta leans harder on execution: Standard RTS micro under modest time pressure
Reads2 vs 2
Even - both lean on reads about the same.
Variance2 vs 2
Even - both lean on variance about the same.
Optimization7 vs 8
Rome: Total War leans harder on optimization: Campaign economy, recruitment, and battle tactics are solvable
Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.