Strategic points are basically gold mines that you don't need to mine for minerals lol
TotalX5

I'll try and sum up all your arguements here:

1) Dawn of War is based off Warhammer 40k which has a HUGE following as a tabletop game and thus, lots of people would like having a video game version

2) Lots of carnage which was a good bonus

3) The squad system and cover made it innovative and appealing as a new type of RTS not to mention the morale bonus.

4) The strategic points defeated the purpose of turtling, a strategy which was hard to beat without having to go and rearrange for siege which by then would get you attacked by a mass of air units.

5) The game is just fun to play in general, it isn't about eye-candy anymore since lots more games can surpass (hell, C&C3 has lots better graphics)