I played the heck out of that series. I really liked being able to make your own units in II (I have memories of making units of Star Wars ships in the pixel editor thing - look, it made sense at the time alright?)
Warlords III: Reign of Heroes and Darklords Rising were the pinnacle of it though. The last before it moved to the Battlecry series. I keep hoping for a GOG release for it...