head to head
vs
Empire: Total WarvsZ: Steel Soldiers
Empire: Total War leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Z: Steel Soldiers leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Empire: Total WarZ: Steel Soldiers
Axis by axis
Execution2 vs 3
Z: Steel Soldiers leans harder on execution: Modest unit micro; pace matters less than territory
Reads3 vs 3
Even - both lean on reads about the same.
Variance3 vs 3
Even - both lean on variance about the same.
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.