head to head
vs
Hearts of Iron IIIvsMedieval II: Total War
Hearts of Iron III leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Medieval II: Total War leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Hearts of Iron IIIMedieval II: Total War
Axis by axis
Execution1 vs 2
Medieval II: Total War leans harder on execution: real-time battle micro is modest
Reads2 vs 1
Hearts of Iron III leans harder on reads: Multiplayer fronts involve some human outguessing
Variance3 vs 3
Even - both lean on variance about the same.
Optimization9 vs 9
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.