Historical Background
The Queen Anne’s Revenge is the flagship of the infamous Edward Teach, aka Blackbeard. It is one of the most iconic and famous ships of its era. She began life in 1710 as an English merchant vessel, the Concord. Captured by French privateers it was renamed the La Concorde later served as a slave ship. On Nov 28th, 1717, she was captured by Blackbeard and his pirates near the island of Saint Vincent in the West Indies.
Blackbeard upgraded its 26 cannons to 40, and rigged her sails for speed. Unfortunately, just 6 months later, the ship ran aground while entering Beaufort Inlet, North Carolina. Teach escaped by transferring supplies onto one of his smaller sloops, the Adventure. In doing so, he stranded several crew members on a small island nearby, where they were later rescued by Captain Stede Bonnet. Some suggest Blackbeard deliberately grounded the ship to reduce the number of his crew with which he would have to split his cargo and loot.
A 1718 newspaper description of one of Blackbeard’s attacks on a merchant ship reveals it was, “…a large Ship and Sloop with Black Flags and Deaths Heads in them and three more Sloops with Bloody Flags all bore down upon the said ship Protestant Caesar…the Ship had 40 Guns and 300 Men called the Queen Anne’s Revenge, commanded by Edward Teach…”
Queen Anne’s Revenge Ship Analysis
| Attribute | #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maneuverability | 50% | ||||
| Speed | 67% | ||||
| Durability | 29% | ||||
| Firepower | 46% | ||||
| Brawling | 50% |
Queen Anne’s Revenge Overview & Tactics
a 4th Rate Frigate
The Queen Anne’s Revenge has stats similar to that of an upgraded 6th Rate Frigate. It has an increased Broadside and Crew and additional maneuverability when windward. If you were to take a 6th Rate Frigate for 16 pts and upgrade it with Additional Guns + 2, Additional Crew +1 (reduced from +4 since you don’t get bonus Fatigue), and Weatherly +2 it would cost you 21 pts. Being a unique ship you are able to get those bones for a mere 16 pts, making this a bargain indeed!
Additionally, this ship truly shines when Edward “Blackbeard” Teach is selected as the squadron’s admiral. With Blackbeard at its helm, all other ships within Pistol Range remove 2 Fatigue when taking a Rally action. Additionally, Blackbeard’s Brutal ability gives this ship a Close Combat of 4 making it equal to a 3rd or 2nd Rate ship. In boarding actions, it can roll a fearsome 7 Dice and force crews to surrender quite quickly.
As the ship is built for boarding, taking Boarding Party, Buccaneers, Corsairs, Marines or Swashbucklers gives it a bonus to Close Combat. Taking Kapers is another good option to keep Fatigue low.
Pros
- Fast and manueverable
- Excellent for boarding
- For its point value, it has the best damage outputs of its size/class.
- This is one of the largest ships the Pirate Faction can take
- When Blackbeard is aboard it will likely only die from Damage rather than Fatigue
- Your enemy will put a lot of focus on the ship and may allow you to use it as a distraction from the rest of your force
Cons
- IF you don’t take Blackbeard as your admiral, the ship loses much of its effectiveness.
- Can’t take upgrades to its crew or damage tracks
- The ship is fragile against larger Ships of the Line
- It is instantly recognized as a high-priority target to inflict Strike Points against you as it will likely also have admiral Blackbeard onboard
Product Referral Links
This ship is available in the Blackbeard’s Revenge expansion pack for Oak & Iron