head to head
Neither is meaningfully harder - they pose close to the same test. The widest gap is reads, and it is a single point.

Optimization · Pure Optimization
Grand strategy and line-infantry battles across the Napoleonic Wars.

Optimization · Pure Optimization
A focused Total War set in Viking-age Britain, trading scale for tighter kingdom management.
Napoleon: Total War leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Same score on execution - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Napoleon: Total War
Real-time battle micro under pressure
Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia
Real-time battle micro matters in close fights
Napoleon: Total War leans a little harder on reads, though the gap is small.
Napoleon: Total War
Multiplayer battles involve feints; campaign AI is mappable
Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia
Multiplayer battles involve some human prediction
Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia leans a little harder on variance, though the gap is small.
Napoleon: Total War
Morale swings and fog of war
Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia
Campaign events and AI moves add mild uncertainty
Same score on optimization - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Napoleon: Total War
Campaign economy, army composition, and line tactics
Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia
Settlement planning and army composition decide the campaign
A matching score does not mean a matching test. Two games can both sit at 10 on execution and demand completely different things of you - which is why the reasoning above matters more than the number beside it.