head to head
vs
Children of a Dead EarthvsMedieval II: Total War
Children of a Dead Earth leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Medieval II: Total War leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Children of a Dead EarthMedieval II: Total War
Axis by axis
Execution2 vs 2
Even - both lean on execution about the same.
Reads1 vs 1
Even - both lean on reads about the same.
Variance1 vs 3
Medieval II: Total War leans harder on variance: fog of war and event triggers hide some state
Optimization10 vs 9
Children of a Dead Earth leans harder on optimization: realistic orbital combat engineering is fully 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.