Quote Originally Posted by mongoose
I noticed that CIV 3 usually get's rated "easy" And MTW is "hard"
I suspect that refers to the learning curve rather than the ferocity of the AI. So chess would be easy, in the sense that it's fairly easy to learn the rules, but of course very hard to win against a good player or even an AI. Civ is fairly accessible, IMO, but takes some time to master and has a fairly competitive AI. Total War has a steeper learning curve - perhaps just in terms of controlling the camera and keeping up with the potentially overwhelming real time battles - but the AI is not as competitive as in Civ.

I am pretty sure there is a trade off between complexity (or freedom) in games and the strength of the AI. Where there is limited freedom, as in Chess, it is easier to program a formiddable AI.