| “ | This Hellhammer Cannon has been refined by the Pirate King himself to be one of the most feared artillery pieces in existence. | „ |
Queen Bess is a 
Vampire Coast artillery unit introduced in Total War: Warhammer II with Curse of the Vampire Coast.
Recruitment[ | ]
Recruited with: Regiments of Renown Recruitment panel after completing the Curse of the Queen's Cannon rite
Description[ | ]
The infamous artillery piece known as Queen Bess is a monstrous cannon, so heavy and powerful that it requires constant maintenance due to the forces involved when firing it. Despite its cumbersomeness, its lethality makes it the pride and joy of any pirate fleet that manages to bring it into its possession, living or dead. The exact heritage of Queen Bess is uncertain, but it closely resembles a Hellhammer Cannon – a class of massive artillery originally designed by the mad alchemists of the Empire. Despite being utterly devastating, they were far too heavy to move on land – by mortals, at least – so ended up being used on Imperial Wargalleys. It is said that Luthor Harkon himself managed to steal one, refining and improving it in one of his more lucid moments to produce Queen Bess, one of the most powerful pieces of black powder artillery to ever grace a battlefield.
Attributes[ | ]
- Siege Artillery
- ▲ Armour-Piercing Missiles: The damage of armour-piercing weapons mostly ignores the armour of the target, making them the ideal choice against heavily-armoured enemies. They are often heavier and attack at a slower rate though, making them less efficient against poorly-armoured targets.
- ▲ Anti-Infantry: Anti-infantry units have an advantage against targets that are smaller than a horse. This advantage can be a damage bonus against small targets, superior weight used to smash through lighter enemies, or an explosive attack from range that effects a large area.
Unit Abilities[ | ]
Passive Abilities[ | ]
Strategy[ | ]
Queen Bess is the most devastating artillery piece in the game. It does massive damage and slows targets it hits to a crawl. It is recommend to switch targets every shot, partly because there is usually not more than half a unit left if Bess hits squarely, and partly so that your opponent has to keep moving different units in order to avoid the shots.
Bess does not have a ton of ammo, so it is often a good idea to bring a Gunnery Wight. They can also help buff its accuracy. Alternately, Spiteful Shot from Lore of the Deep helps maintain accuracy. Bess has a large hit box, which means that enemy artillery can destroy it relatively easily. Occupy the enemy artillery while Bess works or protect it in some other way.
Queen Bess has a high trajectory like mortars, but has excellent AP damage making it well suited to killing armoured infantry or even cavalry if they sit still long enough. Single model monstrous units still better dealt with using Gunnery Mobs and Carronades. Aside from the huge damage Bess can do if she lands a direct shot, she also massively slows an enemy unit down. When an enemy is advancing this can seriously stagger their lines, allowing you more opportunities to divide and conquer your enemy. It is best to change who Bess shoots with every shot so that multiple units will be staggered and out of sync.
In campaign, the Curse of the Queen’s Cannon rite must be invoked to recruit Queen Bess. Only one Queen Bess can be fielded at any given time; uses of the rite while one is already recruited only provide the casualty replenishment bonus.
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