head to head
vs
Medieval II: Total WarvsVictoria II
Medieval II: Total War leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Victoria II leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Medieval II: Total WarVictoria II
Axis by axis
Execution2 vs 1
Medieval II: Total War leans harder on execution: real-time battle micro is modest
Reads1 vs 1
Even - both lean on reads about the same.
Variance3 vs 2
Medieval II: Total War leans harder on variance: fog of war and event triggers hide some state
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.