Memoir 44 was one of the earliest games in the Commands & Colors series by Richard Borg. The base game is set on the western front of World War II. It was released in 2004 by Days of Wonder, and was chiefly aimed at new gamers unfamiliar with wargames.
I came to it significantly later, in 2012, when I told a friend of mine Commands & Colors: Ancients had a World War II version. She purchased it quickly and we went on to play it regularly. At first I didn't care for it much. It appeared to lack the probing, almost dancing gameplay I had come to love in later entries to the Commands & Colors series. However as we made our way through the scenarios included in the game, I grew to appreciate it more and more for it's own unique flavor.