head to head
vs
The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth IIvsWarcraft: Orcs & Humans
The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II leans Optimization (Practiced Mastery); Warcraft: Orcs & Humans leans Optimization (Practiced Mastery).
The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth IIWarcraft: Orcs & Humans
Axis by axis
Execution5 vs 5
Even - both lean on execution about the same.
Reads5 vs 4
The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II leans harder on reads: Human opponents in skirmish reward prediction
Variance2 vs 3
Warcraft: Orcs & Humans leans harder on variance: Fog of war hides enemy composition
Optimization7 vs 7
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.