Deep within the halls of the Twisted Spire, the ruined pyramid tomb and palace of Van Damneg the Dread King, sits the immobile corpse of this evil Liche Lord. The Dread King was one of Nagash’s original followers and fought for him in the Kingdoms of the Dead. He has studied necromancy for thousands of years, and like Nagash he has continued his existence beyond the death of his mortal shell.
When you enter his vaulted throne room, the dim pale flicker of ghostlights is the only illumination. In the dark mists at the far end of the hall looms a tall shadow. Wrought from ancient gold and encrusted with the skulls of longextinct creatures is the throne of the Dread King. Upon the massive chair sits the crumpled figure of Van Damneg himself. His skin has dried to his bones, his limbs lie limply upon the dark throne and only his eyes betray any sign of life. In horror your blood starts to freeze as the piercing blue points of light set deep within dark eye sockets blaze with malignant sentience and turn towards you.
You feel an irresistible surge of will and you are forced to your knees. Pain wracks your body as the Dread King exerts his magic on you. Gasping in terror and agony the last thing you see is a withered finger lifting from the folds of a dark cloak and a hissing voice:
“One more soul reaped for the harvest…”
Well here we have the boss of the WHQ expansion Catacombs of Terror. It’s a bit atypical that I started with a character this time instead of painting some minions first. I had the idea for this conversion in mind for a very long time and I guess I was tired of waiting.
The new Warhammer Whight King is one of my most favoured GW models ever. Therefore I really think he is a great upgrade for Van Damneg 2.0. And it isn’t a difficult conversion at all. Just a body switch and some green stuff here and there. The throne was broadened a bit with the help of some plastic card to make place for his arms.
I really liked the old Hero Quest artworks, The Return Of The Witchlord being my favourite. Check out Les Edwards works here (Galleries / Vintage). They really get you in the mood for dungeon adventures!
Van Damneg the Dread King on his Throne.
He certainly needs more minions!
WIP shot of the conversion.
The very inspiring “Return of the Witchlord” by Les Edwards.