head to head
vs
The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth IIvsTotal Annihilation
The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II leans Optimization (Practiced Mastery); Total Annihilation leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth IITotal Annihilation
Axis by axis
Execution5 vs 5
Even - both lean on execution about the same.
Reads5 vs 6
Total Annihilation leans harder on reads: Opponent expansion patterns must be scouted and predicted
Variance2 vs 2
Even - both lean on variance about the same.
Optimization7 vs 9
Total Annihilation leans harder on optimization: Metal extractor priority and factory queuing are deeply optimizable
Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.