head to head
vs
Medieval: Total WarvsS.W.I.N.E.
Medieval: Total War leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); S.W.I.N.E. leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Medieval: Total WarS.W.I.N.E.
Axis by axis
Execution3 vs 3
Even - both lean on execution about the same.
Reads2 vs 2
Even - both lean on reads about the same.
Variance3 vs 2
Medieval: Total War leans harder on variance: Battle dice, loyalty and event cards add noise
Optimization8 vs 7
Medieval: Total War leans harder on optimization: Campaign economy and battlefield doctrine are deeply learnable
Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.