I did like BattleField 1942 too, however I hated the fact that there wasn't really a singleplayer mode with a story or something, it's just a multiplayer game with bots, but it was good!

I also like Medieval Total War, which is Shogun but then in the Medieval times and with much more variety... The great thing of Shogun I have always found (and Medieval) was that it is a combination of RTS and TBS, something I had never seen before...

Another game that I very enjoy(ed) is Ghost Recon, but that game is a bit older allready...

I too have cable, so that makes it a lot easier to get games without having to pay for them...