head to head
vs
Napoleon: Total WarvsVandal Hearts II
Napoleon: Total War leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Vandal Hearts II leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Napoleon: Total WarVandal Hearts II
Axis by axis
Execution3 vs 2
Napoleon: Total War leans harder on execution: Real-time battle micro under pressure
Reads3 vs 3
Even - both lean on reads about the same.
Variance2 vs 3
Vandal Hearts II leans harder on variance: Hit chances add bounded randomness
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.