head to head
vs
The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earthvsWarcraft II: Tides of Darkness
The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth leans Optimization (Mind & Math); Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness leans Optimization (Practiced Mastery).
The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earthWarcraft II: Tides of Darkness
Axis by axis
Execution5 vs 6
Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness leans harder on execution: Faster micro across land, sea and air units
Reads6 vs 5
The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth leans harder on reads: Multiplayer rewards predicting opponent army choices
Variance3 vs 3
Even - both lean on variance about the same.
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.