The Total War series of games are better than the Age of Empires series

1.StrategyA. Major fallacy, flawed argument because in AOE 3 you can create stealthy ambushes as well and you can also hide battalions in the mountains or the woods. "In AoE, if the enemy sends a cavalry scout out and they see your ambush..." This is impossible unless one of these two things happen. A. You use no stealthy units to conduct your ambush. B. The enemy stumble upon the stealthy units. In AOE Warchiefs many native and European units become invisible to the enemy when they are upgraded or if they have this special skill, ex. Forest Prowler, Skull Warrior, Eagle Warrior, Musketeer.B. Once again this is incorrect. "I was referring to mass riflemen/musketeers" Even if you referred to riflemen or muketeers.This makes no difference, you could easily counter this with tactically placed outpost and wall fortifications, not necessarily troops(although you could do so as well). "In TW, there is no rock/paper/scissors format like there is in AoE" This is not true. AOE has a diverse set of units in each game, which brake the "rules". For example units that can kill cavalry with ease and blow up any of the 30 different building in the game to smithereens with little effort are defenceless against light infantry. And some units that are extremely powerful against both cavalry and infantry but weak when face to face with artillery or warships there are units that are stealthy ( cannot be seen) that specialize on killing mercenaries and explorers this Rock Paper Scissor notion is false. [1] All native civilizations have a unit that can use stealth (this cannot be activated when enemy units are nearby). For the Europeans, there is a Home City card that ships 20 spies (available even to early Home Cities) or they can be trained at the Church. They share the stealth ability, as do other miscellaneous units (ninja, native scouts, etc.). When certain enemy soldiers are near the invisible unit, it becomes revealed and vulnerable to attack. Furthermore, stealth units become visible when they attack2. Economics.This argument also no true. Killing your settlers and villagers will indeed have an impact on you economy but you also need to take out buildings and fortification to impede economic progress and to eventually choke the opponents economic development. Some buildings needed to end someone's economy are: Mills, Town Centers, Banks , Factories, Market and Outposts.I fail to see how the killing of population and destruction of towns in AOE is unrealistic way to deteriorate an economy. It is clear that people are the columns and building blocks of a stable economy. 3. StorylineI really do not understand what it is that you speak of. This argument shows how little you know of the actual game and storyline. In the plot Gen. Custer NEVER fights for this so called pirate gold. He fights to secure huge amount of gold in the Black Hills of Dakota against the Lakota and Siuox. This is historically coherent. The Black Hill are know for their rich gold deposits and the conflicts that these created between Natives and Americans.4. FactionsOnce again, it is not about quantity but about quality. Even though TW has many factions they are not nearly as complex and lovable as the AOE ones.The AOE ones provide a stable and unique platform that suits all type of players. From the aggresive and violent to the defensive and reserved.5. UnitsThe AOE series has produced hundreds of equally unique and desireable units as factions. These detailed and didactic units are part of the reason why the AOE series has sold over 1.3 million copies worldwide.6.Additional StorylinesThe final fallacy that I will point out in this debate is the "as you can create your own) than AoE games" "argument".This is false, in AOE one can create edited scenarios to suit one's special desires and needs. Also, the "... fact remains that TW has better storylins..." statement is solely baced on opinon. Both games have exeptional stories.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------You covered almost all the topic I would of touched on but i'll try to create two more.Price:Aoe gives you more bang for your buck. At prices as low as $7 for Gold editions it a pretty good deal considering you get 4 AOE games, all with unique attributes. TW is somewhere around $20 for one game ! When AOE 3 first came out the Gold Pack was only 49.99 $ at GameStop ( which included 2 games). TW only has one game and it cost 59.99 $.Because of its availability to the masses and its fun and friendly marketing AOE managed to sell over 1.3 Million copies !OnlineTW drags a bit and there are some small, rough edges in the tactical battles. The userface is also complex and unfriendly. AOE is more physicaly appealing and easier to interact with. Furthermore, the online battles are superb, they are quick to find and incredebly fun to play with, concidering the fact that one has the option of "cheats". This enable the player to summon anything from cannons shooting pigs to Monter trucks and giant George Washington sculptures.Online you can also create fun mini games within the confines of the game. For example Tower Defence or Fort Wars or even Cat anf Mouse.Thank you :)[1] http://en.wikipedia.org...