Sales are one thing, giving away a game after loyal fans were screwed by the most worthless CE of all time is another. They still need to do something to comp the people that paid $40 extra for $5 worth of content. You hardly ever see a paid game go f2p, but giving something as a thank you to the people that actually paid money for it is just common courtesy.
Be honest: is there really any difference in
why people pay less than you?

If you still think there is a substantial difference: would a Steam sale with 1$ for CoH2 be fine for you? I mean - in this case it is not free, but just a sale
Disappointing content of the CE is annoying, I understand that, but it has nothing to do with this.