There was this thread:
http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=41454.0 - a few years old, but what are a mere few years in the millenia of constant struggle against Chaos?
Interesting this should come up, I bought the Dawn of War I & II collections when they were on sale last month. I played through the 1st 2 campaigns, and they were OK but a bit easy on normal. Then I went to install the 3rd one (Dark Crusade) and found I already owned it from shortly after it came out, and remember bailing out about 1/3 of the way through the campaign 'cause it was so bastardly. Not really "hard" after I got the hang of it, but a repetitive slog through unfair setups. This time I put it on hold after about 6 turns, I have failed the Emperor again :p I did finish Chaos Gate, back in the day, and a fair few rounds of the original Space Hulk (The briefing voice just killed me - "You will face 20 billion gene stealers. One squad should be sufficient."
I almost got seduced into the tabletop, but yeah GW is just completely bastardly on the pricing. Every time I started planning to start an army the bottom line was a real shock. If I pay that much for a vehicle, I think I should be getting something that I can actually drive!
On top of I don't paint well, I hate painting, I HATE painting, and I don't want to pay for painting. And the WH players at the local places tended to be, uhh, on the lower end of the socially functional scale. I like the setting, it's a great justification for completely over-the-top carnage, but as a game - I dunno.
And that's why Chaos subsists...