head to head
vs
Empire: Total WarvsMight & Magic: Heroes VI
Empire: Total War leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Might & Magic: Heroes VI leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Empire: Total WarMight & Magic: Heroes VI
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 4
Might & Magic: Heroes VI leans harder on variance: combat rolls and map resources random
Optimization8 vs 8
Even - both lean on optimization about the same.
Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.