I remember buying Talonsoft's 'East Front' for about £5, then later 'West Front' for a similar princely sum.
I loved the games at the time, and I thought the level of unit detail etc. (in the unit info windows etc.) was amazing- recreating the battles of WWII and putting me in the driving seat. I bought Sudden Strike, but quickly became bored with it- C&C did the whole RTS thing better, IMHO. RTCW and MOHAA were both great fun, but essentially just FPS games with WWII clothes- although I'll never forget the first time I went up Omaha beach, very good level (but amazing to think people actually did charge into that situation- and win).
Then CM came along- played CMBO a bit, thought it was quite good, and then left it for a bit. When CMBB came out however, I was truly hooked- there was never any question as soon as I saw CMAK, I just had to buy it.
Now, I don't really bother buying games unless it's a fun FPS to play online- although my interest in Strategic Command 2 has been aroused by reading the articles on this website...
Games have their place though, as do sims- but give me 'Sim World War II' (CM) anyday!