I have been searching the net for quite some time now trying to find the game and potential source/emulator.

Basic premise as I remember it:
Two players, each with a castle, to conquer one another. You would have 3 basic military units, warrior, archer, and catapult (as I remember); I think it was turn-based.

The earliest Panzer General iteration I can think of :) Also the earliest memory of a video game I have played (at my cousin's place).

Does it ring a bell with anyone here?

What Commodore system are we talking about here?

And are you sure you played this game on a Commodore at all?
What was the graphics like? I mean the perspective.

Sideview (like "Artillery Duel")? Or birdview (as your comparison with "Panzer General" suggests)?

Because the description (two castles, three army types (catapults, archers, footsoldiers)) definitely rings a bell...yet, I'm pretty sure, that the game I remember, was available on one of these countless "play for free" flash games' sites - for PC, not for any Commodore system.

No, this was a pre-PC era. Around 86-87'. It had tapes, so my guess is it was Commodore. From a bird-eye perspective, you were moving the units around, purchasing new ones, etc. A PG predecessor and not Artillery Duel.
Graphics wise it was pretty basic, two colors, basic terrain, units moving up-down, left-right.

Very, very simplistic tactical game I guess, both graphics and gameplay-wise.

Could it be Johnny Reb?

Hm,...
Could it be that it was something your cousin created himself with the "Wargame Construction Set" (1986)?

Though, probably not...as far as I know, that was a disk game.

Btw: couldn't you simply ask your cousin about it? Maybe he remembers it?

I don't know what else to suggest, sorry.

Ignoring the fact that the label on Commodore 64 says "Personal Computer", there are also these:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_PC_compatible_systems


Just sayin'.


And as for the game, I think I have seen something similar, but probably not the exact game that is being asked, and obviously I don't recall any actual game titles.

Very close in terms of graphics, but the setting was more like the medieval, Viking era.

Good pick though! Next time I ran into him, I will ask :)

I stumbled over this site (you probably know it already):
https://archive.org/details/ultimatetapearchive

If you're memories in regard to the "game on tape for Commodore (64?)" is correct, maybe you can find it there.

There's also this. My 500 has one in it. https://amitopia.com/atonce-gave-amiga-500-286-pc-capabilities/

Wow, I DID NOT know about this site, I will check it out, and if I find it there, I will share the link here. MANY THANKS BreOI72!

Don't mention it. :)
Good luck!

The stuff you describe sounds a little bit like the battles in "Kaiser" (article is in German, because it was the only one I could find that showed the battlescreen). This game also had a lot of management elements though and wasn't a pure turn-based strategy game though.

Similar, but the graphics were a bit different.

The first ever game I played on my 286 PC with black&white monitor was CIV 1. When I started the game, I had no clue what I was getting into. I was novel to video games (having only played Commodore and Atari games at my cousin's and friends' place), and my English was rudimentary. BUT, when the first unit was constructed, MILITIA, it looked almost the same as the basic warrior unit in that Commodore game. So, my first guess was that I was playing the same game but in the PC version. Imagine my excitement!
And, believe it or not, and just as in a fancy game review, I was scrolling around the small island where I was situated for quite some time when all of a sudden, a TANK landed (basically, I did not understand the concept of technology, production, cities... nothing!). Whereas such an appearance would probably intrigue me later on, I still remember the initial feeling of disappointment when realizing that I was playing the wrong game :) :)
I gave up on CIV until about a year or two later when I got my first color monitor. And yes, CIV again, this time with some English and screen time. I chose the Mongolians. This time I somehow managed to access the production queue, and I looked up the word "settlers" in the dictionary. The meaning gave threw a chin down my spine - I can expand! And yes, I built the first settler unit and hit B on the first tile left from my original city :D :D The crazy city-per-tile expansion continued until I realized the map is somewhat too big for such urban development, so I gradually started to build cities a bit further away. Then I met my Russian neighbors, yes, with those thanks again (as opposed to my phalanx units :) ). They started to take my cities one at a time until I saw a little screen popping out saying I have discovered "writing", and there was a picture of a small guy with a hat, with the title "diplomat". I somehow accessed the civilopedia as the Russians were crushing me, only to discover that the diplomat can ... STEAL TECHNOLOGIES :) :) Literally, with my last patch of cities standing (by a patch I mean 3-4 cities grouped next to each other), I started producing diplomats and stealing technologies. Many turns later, I was attacking my last opponents - the peaceful Aztecs with nuclear missiles and 20 tank units stacked in one tile :) :)

I have played many games since, but I will never forget that civ playthrough when I realized what I had in front of me.

Although I like different genres, games like CIV suit me the best. I am convinced that this has something to do with the Commodore game I played at my cousin's place. This is why I am trying to find it and see how different it looks now, some, what, 34-5 years later.

:)

Many thanks to all of you who are trying to help out!

Yeah, "Kaiser" was also a game I immediately thought of,...but the "battles" are only a small part of that.
And if my memory serves me right, there are no two castles involved, and while it has militias and infantry (OP's warriors?), it has no archers (but cavalry instead), and the artillery shoots with cannons, not with catapults.

Another game, that came to my mind was Archon II.
That comes with two "castles" - but again: doesn't feature "warriors, archers, and catapults" as such, but only fantasy troops that could be taken as such...and of course: not really set in medieval/viking times.

I enjoy a good riddle, so I still try to find the game, the OP may have played.
But, honestly: I think there is some kind of "memory mix up" involved.

This is one of these cases, where there's too much details on the one hand, yet too little details on the other hand.

Too much details:
strategy game, game's medium: tape (therefore most probably a game for either a Commodore system, or the ZX Spectrum), from around 1986-1987, features: two castles, three units (warriors, archers, catapults) which have to be purchased, turn-based (probably), a game "like Panzer General 1 and/or Civ 1, but with very basic graphics (in two colours), and units only moving vertically and horizontally", and with a medieval and/or viking setting.

Too little details:
Was this a two-player-game? If so: was there the possibility to play against the computer?
Or was it a game for more players, but the OP only ever played it with two players (resp.: 1 player + 1 computer opponent)?
Was the playing field static, and were the two castles visible at all time, or was there movement across the screen's borders involved?
Were these three units really called that way in the game, or may memory blur the lines here?
And were the three units mentioned, the only ones, or were there more?
When I think of PG 1 and Civ 1, I have some particular graphics in mind...however, PG 1 comes with a hexagonal grid, while Civ 1 has no hexagonal grid.
So, which system was used in the game, the OP is looking for? Hexagonal grid, or no (visible) grid at all?
OP's memory of "units only moving vertically and horizontally" kinda excludes PG 1 as a comparison (besides PG being set in WW II, while the game the OP is looking for is set in medieval or viking times).
Going by the given timeframe, the possible systems, and the media remembered: was it something legally purchased (= was it an official cassette with a box existent, that the OP remembers, and that could give a hint), or was it a simple music cassette copied on the school yard?)

Back in the day, there were a lot of "bedroom coders" around for any these systems.
Therefore a shit ton of games exist, that you'll probably never ever find on any official lists.
Could this be one of these bedroom coded games, that only got distributed in the near vicinity of the coder?

Btw: that's also why I mentioned the "Wargame Construction Set"...that enabled basically everyone to make their own (strategy/war) games.

And the graphics possible within that program would totally fit with the description ("like Civ 1! and "in two colors").
(see attachment)

Again: too much, yet too little info, makes me belive that the game (as the OP remembers it) doesn't exist.
Or, at the very least, not as something "known" to a bigger circle of players.

I would be very surprised if we ever get a name to that game presented.
And even more surprised, if the details of that game then fit the description, we've been given here.

I'm willing to eat crow, though, if anybody proves me wrong.

Edit: forgot the attachment

Edit 2: btw - was the game in English (or German, etc), or in Croatian?
Since the OP played the game as a kid (I assume), and is from Croatia...that kind of info could also tell us something.

Could it be Fortress for Commodore 64. a game from 1984 developed (or published) by SSI?

https://www.mobygames.com/game/c64/fortress__