While I'm waiting for Starcraft 2 and the next CNC game, this will do nicely.
If you're a fan of RTSes then you know that Starcraft pretty much perfected the RTS formula- at least, the conventional one. You use peon units to gather resources and build a huge base and then slaughter your enemy. Most every RTS since then has used this formula as their blueprint.
But this game is different. It lets you focus on the combat far more than the economics. You capture strategic points and build power generators in order to manage your base's ability to acquire resoruces, and these things never run out of it. Well, strategic points can degrade in value but if you have enough you'll never go hungry again.
The battles are intense. Units are managed in a different way- you can upgrade the weapons sets of some to make more diverse combinations of infantry and vehicles, and infantry come in squads whose effectiveness depends on how many there are in a squad, their weapon types, their morale(which, if broken, can make a squad less brutal in their effectiveness) and their upgrades- namely, firepower and accuracy. It's freakin awesome.
Graphics are awesome too, and the camera really brings home the splendor and drama. The music is one of the best tracks I've ever heard before. The single player's campaign is very well executed- characters have rich personality, the story is reasonably complex, though predictable, and you really get a feel for the conflict in its entirety and drama.
Get this damn game. I have yet to get the patches or play a multiplayer game but I have no reason to assume they are bad. Winter Assault looks great too. This definitely satiates my appetite for a new RTS.