head to head
vs
Brick RigsvsRome: Total War
Brick Rigs leans Optimization (Practiced Mastery); Rome: Total War leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Brick RigsRome: Total War
Axis by axis
Execution4 vs 3
Brick Rigs leans harder on execution: Driving control matters but it's a sandbox
Reads2 vs 2
Even - both lean on reads about the same.
Variance1 vs 2
Rome: Total War leans harder on variance: Diplomacy and AI moves add modest fog
Optimization6 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.