head to head
vs
Empire: Total WarvsHearts of Iron II
Empire: Total War leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Hearts of Iron II leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Empire: Total WarHearts of Iron II
Axis by axis
Execution2 vs 1
Empire: Total War leans harder on execution: Real-time battle micro is modest
Reads3 vs 3
Even - both lean on reads about the same.
Variance3 vs 3
Even - both lean on variance about the same.
Optimization8 vs 9
Hearts of Iron II leans harder on optimization: Production, research and front planning are deeply solvable systems
Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.