head to head
vs
The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earthvsTotal War: Arena
The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth leans Optimization (Mind & Math); Total War: Arena leans Reads (Mind & Math).
The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earthTotal War: Arena
Axis by axis
Execution5 vs 4
The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth leans harder on execution: Micro and multitasking under real-time pressure
Reads6 vs 6
Even - both lean on reads about the same.
Variance3 vs 3
Even - both lean on variance about the same.
Optimization7 vs 6
The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth leans harder on optimization: Build orders and counter units are largely solvable
Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.