Highgate Miniatures in action!

Here is a selection of photos showing just a few of the Highgate Miniatures in action against the excellent OshiroModelTerrain scenery.

New releases now in stock!

We are pleased to announce the release of the next three packs:

HIGH10 Vampire Queens:
More deadly than the male of the species, the Vampire Queens and Ladies, each characterised by their different strengths and traits.
The Innocent, The Ancient, The Seductress and The  Arrogant Blood Queen.

HIGH11 Gypsies 2:
Four more characters including the Wise Woman.

HIGH12 London Characters 1:
Four  unique individuals to fight for good or evil

These are now in stock and available to buy from here:

https://oshiromodels.wixsite.com/oshiromodelswebshop/highgateminiatures

The Casebook of Sheraton Howell: Part XV The First Case VIII

We ran into the alley way through the gate, which we had arranged to be left open. We could see the woman scramble over another wall and we ran to ensure she remained in view. We manage to keep her in sight through the unusually clear night, her apparently much reduced agility, and a little luck with our guesswork on those occasions where she drifted out of view.

We finally lost her in an area comprised of some splendid old properties where the large trees restricted our view and already limited light. There were now houses with lit rooms and little in the way of clues to determine whether the she-devil had simply passed through the area or had taken refuge in one of the buildings. It was then that I remembered Howell’s injury which he had fastidiously failed to mention during our pursuit. The scratches to his shoulder and arm were deep and I was certain he would bear them forever more, though I thought it best not to mention this. They would need to be cleaned and dressed soon. The exertion of the chase now lay heavily on Howell and his pains began to intensify so we reluctantly agreed to find our way back to an area we recognised and thenceforth to return to my lodgings for treatment and breakfast.

‘Howell’ I started, but my words were cut short by a finger to his lips. ‘James’ he whispered, ‘if you were a ragged beast of the type we just encountered, would you be more inclined to reside in a fine dwelling complete with servants,’ he paused, casting his good arm towards the houses around us. ‘or would you place yourself in a location such as this?’ He pointed to a large house opposite us which, unlike the ones we had walked past was set some way back from the street and had a distinctly unkempt appearance. Heavy shutters covered the windows, though as I followed the direction Howell was pointing I could see that a single large window was not shuttered and lay open, a curtain, grey in the poor light, flapped in and out of the opening.

The Casebook of Sheraton Howell: Part XIV The First Case VII

The woman hesitated briefly then hissed loudly, her attractive features changing instantly. Hers was the face of a demon, her contorted snarl exposed fangs like a wild beast, her face twisted in savagery. Howell fired a shot into the air but she barely seemed to notice. Now Sheraton Howell is a gentleman but he is also, thankfully, highly pragmatic. As she approached he fired once more into the ground at her feet, then seeing no hesitancy in her approach, he fired a single shot into her leg. Alas, this but slowed her down and seemed to simply anger her more. The beast swiped at Howell, knocking the gun from his hand and sending him staggering backwards.

It was then that I found myself running across the garden, sword cane drawn, almost unaware of my own actions. The devil woman was clawing at Howell’s injured arm and I swear it was if she was some predator about to make a meal. I sliced at the woman’s legs, just below the knees, and she screamed as if she was indeed a beast. She turned to face me as Howell grasped for his gun. Picking it up he fired directly into her back several times and I saw at least one of the bullets exit her chest. We could scarcely believe that she still stood, yet stand she did, her screams awful to recall. The ruckus had by now awakened the household and several police whistles could be heard nearby. The woman turned and fled, still able to clear the garden wall, but not without some struggle from the wounds inflicted. Howell, though injured, shouted ‘after her’. The door to the house opened and I shouted to the figure in the doorway, pointing to the fallen figure of the young girl lying on the grass. She had not been touched in the brawl and I suspected she had simply fainted.

Setting the mood

In Limehouse.

Just a bit of fun with the fledglings and lady adventurers.

More to follow in the coming weeks.

The Casebook of Sheraton Howell: Part XIII The First Case VI

My senses were partly restored as the summerhouse door crashed open and Howell bounded outside. The woman hissed like a wild animal, stopping only momentarily before continuing her advance. Howell set himself between the girl and the woman. ‘What business have you here miss?’ he rather calmly stated.

‘La fille m’appartient’

I was taken aback by the woman’s words, not so much by their meaning, for I understood the content, but more by her tone. Her voice belied her appearance, it was rather chilling yet alluring in its way.
‘Not tonight mademoiselle!’ was Howell’s response.

The woman walked forwards, taking little heed of Howell’s words. As she approached, he put himself firmly in front of the girl, who still appeared to be unaware of any of this. The woman stopped a few yards from Howell and once more beckoned the child forward, her long fingers running into long fingernails. It was then that I realised I had not moved from the door of the summerhouse, almost bewitched by the strange woman. She stepped forward and Howell raised his arm; with a speed I would not have believed, the woman pushed Howell aside with such force that he fell a good five or six feet from where he had stood. He rolled over the damp grass and drew his favoured Enfield revolver.

‘I do strongly suggest you stop there mademoiselle. My apologies for the use of the weapon’.

The woman turned towards Howell as he rose from the ground, revolver still trained on her. She covered the distance seemingly in one sweeping movement and although Howell had time to shoot, he did not. The woman clawed at him like an alley cat; Howell stepped backwards, but not quickly enough as she caught his arm, tearing through his coat. I could see by his face she had connected with more than just material and as he raised his other arm to protect it, I could see dark patches appearing as the blood seeped from the wound.

The Casebook of Sheraton Howell: Part XII The First Case V

For three evenings we sat in a cold, draughty summerhouse, watching whilst absolutely nothing happened. The clear, moonlight nights we were experiencing (somewhat rare given the normal cloud and smog) made the nights even colder than normal. We almost determined against a fourth night, but found ourselves huddled in blankets once more, straining out eyes across the manicured lawn and well-kept borders even as we fought sleep. My eyes heavy, I was jostled awake by Howell who was pointing towards something moving across the lawn by the house. I looked to Howell and silently mouthed the words ‘the daughter’. Howell nodded. Attired in naught but a nightdress, the young girl flitted across the grass, eyes wide open yet her body moving as if asleep. Perhaps this was the somnambulism I had read about? I moved to stand up, intent on approaching the girl to cover her modesty (and there was a frightful chill in the air), but Howell grasped my arm, nodding to the rear of the garden.

In the moonlight stood a woman. She was barefooted, dressed in a tattered dress with long, unkempt hair. I had neither heard not seen her entering the garden. Something appalled me about the woman and I felt a chill deeper than could be accounted for by the night alone. As she walked towards the young girl she gestured, beckoning her forward with her long fingers. There was at once a sense of beauty and of horror, for the woman exuded a sense of savagery I had rarely encountered in my time with Howell, and never in a woman. I was transfixed.

The Casebook of Sheraton Howell: Part XI The First Case IV

The incident was most definitely worth investigating and at four o’ clock in the morning, Howell and I found ourselves clambering over the same low rooftops that the woman had reportedly been on. A number of timber shingles appeared to have been recently disturbed and a small piece of cloth was still attached to a tile nail. We later determined this to be a blue taffeta, a not inexpensive fabric, which was at odds with the ragged description the constables reported. We were, however, once more at a loss and no further forward in locating the missing girl or finding the mystery spring heeled woman, who seemed to be heavily involved. What did we know of this woman? We knew that she had considerable athletic ability, may be French or at least a native French speaker and possibly wore a once expensive, yet now tattered, dress. This was hardly evidence likely to lead to an imminent arrest, but it was a start.

The Gilliat daughter had been very distraught at the disappearance of her cousin and the death of her dog had been a further blow to her condition. Mrs Gilliat’s nerves were frayed by the events and they required some reassurance from ourselves and the police. The Gilliats had been questioned about the woman in blue but they knew nothing of her. Howell and I agreed that we would spend a few evenings in surveillance of the property, hidden away in their summerhouse, which afforded good view across the length of their substantial garden, taking in both the rear doors and the gate into the street beyond. The police could not apparently afford the manpower to join the venture, but as we feared their presence may have restricted any potential activity, this did not trouble us. We did decide to arm ourselves for the occasion, however.

The Casebook of Sheraton Howell: Part X The First Case III

The police had, of course, been called but no trace of the young woman could be found. It appeared that she had been ill for a number of weeks since arriving at the Gilliat’s several months previous, but had recovered enough for an evening’s walk. Clues were sparse as the girl knew no-one else and had largely not engaged with anyone other than the family since arriving.

Several weeks passed with no further developments up until the body of the family dog was found outside their summerhouse, an empty husk, bled dry from a viscous tear to the throat. We took this as a warning but could not see why, we were no closer to apprehending a suspect. It was, however, the poor animal’s corpse that was to lead us to our first real clue in the case. The police, though largely ineffectual in the case (as we had also been), had maintained a light presence in the vicinity of the residence as the family had political connections.

A young woman had been seen, apparently leaping down from the high boundary wall of the Gilliat property by a patrolling constable. He spotted the woman and called after her; she ignored him and he gave chase but she evaded him, evidently with some ease owing to her, and I quote ’bouncing around the alley like a great big bloody frog’. We were lead to believe that she was oddly adept at acrobatics and cleared a six foot high wall in a single leap. At the time we thought it preposterous. The constable had provided a reasonably good description of the woman, no doubt aided by the bright moon and clear skies we were experiencing (a rare occurrence I assure you). The woman appeared to be fair haired and unkempt, quite slight of build but certainly not short, apparently in her twenties. This on its own would have been of little use in our search were it not for an occurrence but an hour later. A constable some distance from the earlier scene had intervened in what he thought was a ‘bobtail heaving a cove’ (namely, a woman engaged in selling her services attempting to rob a ‘gentleman’). Now this is not an uncommon occurrence and it would never have come to our attention were it not for the fact that the constable had been hurled across the street by the woman with such force that his arm and several ribs had broken. He managed to regain sufficient composure to sound his whistle, bringing a nearby constable to his immediate aid. At this point the woman vanished into the night, apparently climbing directly up the side of a building to do so. Between them the constables provided a reasonable description and it was this that had caught Howell’s attention. The situation had clearly registered as unusual, even for policemen who had no doubt witnessed many peculiarities, so the description of her bounding ‘like Spring Heeled Jack himself’ in addition to a more general description, strongly suggested that this was the same woman confronted at the Gilliat’s home. One of the constables also stated that the woman had screamed something at him and although he did not understand it he believed it had been French that she had spoken.

A little something for Halloween

Some photos of the most recent packs, a couple of conversions from the Professors and Gentlemen packs and two of the Vampire lords. All painted by the very talented Bugsda.

The Casebook of Sheraton Howell: Part IX The First Case II

Perhaps by working through the sequence of events that we experienced on that fateful ‘First Case’ (in terms of our involvement with the vampire) we might identify some connection or clue as to what was currently going on? I still shuddered thinking about that night when we first saw for ourselves that such creatures as vampires truly existed, beyond the wit of science or the grace of God. But, our failure to revisit the events of that night were, as Howell was intimating, very likely hindering our ability to draw any satisfactory conclusions from that night.

I brought out my notes and we sat around the fireplace as the chill of the night set in.
‘It started with a visit from the distraught Mrs Gilliat did it not?’ I asked, as I could see Howell was already racing ahead in his mind.

‘That is correct James’. Her poorly niece had failed to return from an evening constitutional and her chaperone had been found in a state of confusion, entirely unaware of the proceeding hour. ‘What does that tell us?’
‘Well, our new friends have informed us that some of these creatures have the power to confound the senses and minds of others. We might assume that the one we encountered in this case had just such an ability’.
‘My summation also, James. Let us start from the beginning and dissect the events of that case’.

First glimpse of the Vampire Queens

More deadly than the male of the species, the Vampire Queens and Ladies, each characterised by their different strengths and traits.

We present to you; The Innocent, The Ancient, The Seductress and The  Arrogant Blood Queen.

These will be cast up and ready to buy in early November along with the second pack of Gypsies and the first pack of London  characters.

Searching catacombs of Victorian London

A recent game using the Fistful of Lead rules and their excellent Tales of Horror supplement.
Various groups of Vampire Hunters are searching the catacombs and underground passages of London searching for a missing Heiress believed to have been abducted by the Vampire Master of Limehouse....

The Casebook of Sheraton Howell: Part VIII The First Case

Howell looked tired. His finely groomed moustache was, as always, finely groomed, yet several day's growth of stubble clung to his sharp face. He wore an old smoking jacket with a large scorch mark on the left breast where he had apparently placed a still lit pipe, concentrating on some matter that had shut out more rational thought. He was agitated and could not remain still. He had heard that the city's 'Premier' consulting detective (Europe's?) often took to scratching at a violin as an act of concentration, but Howell would, in his own words, 'be damned if he had the time to decipher tadpoles on a page just for the pleasure of recreating the sound of a rusty gate'. This would have, however, been preferable (at least in Whittle's mind) to Howell's preferred relaxation technique of throwing knives at a heavy wooden board that had replaced the mirror above the fireplace. In fairness his aim had improved as the cluster of nicks near the centre of the board suggested.

'James, I cannot help but think these events are connected. My recent trip to Amsterdam, for that is where I have been, simply reinforced the gravity of the situation we face." Howell stooped to pick up a cricket bag lying by a pail of coal, pulling out a stout wooden stake." Our new friends have provided us with a few new tools".

"That would have been damned useful in our, well, 'First Case' with those things" I added.

"Indeed it would have, James, indeed it would have." Howell paused, looking around for his pipe, "I have been thinking about that night. It may be useful to go over it again, after all, we have barely spoken of it."

The Casebook of Sheraton Howell: Part VII A Name of No Small Means

It has been two days since the unusual occurrence at the coroner's inquest. I visited the park the girl had been found in, only to find that it was in the process of being dug over and replanted by the grounds keepers. Apparently there had been a complaint over its unkempt state, crime scene be damned! A generous donation towards the wellbeing of the foreman and his lads provided a name at the park authority.

After an hour or so of enquiries, the 'name' was tracked down, and  following a further display of generosity, the source of the complaint identified. The eyes of the individual so offended by the condition of the shrubbery belonged to an elderly Member of Parliament of no small means. I will share his name only privately until such times as the fog clears on this matter. It may be nothing at all, but I will certainly raise it when I meet with Howell this evening. It will be interesting just to find out where exactly he has been.

The Casebook of Sheraton Howell: Part VI An Unusual Occurrence II

Although I was aware that with my newly acquired insight into the matter I was looking for evidence of the Undead (as an acquaintance of Professor Van Helsing refers to them) everywhere, I could not help but consider that this was such an occasion. Howell would have no doubt immediately removed the body for further examination, throwing the officers a shilling to enjoy the hospitality of the venue (though this would have been barely enough for three pints of beer in that establishment). No such contempt for procedure could be shown by an appointed coroner, however, I must have the patience to await the conclusion of the inquest for the day. At least that was what I anticipated; mere minutes later, just as the inquest was about to commence, a number of policemen entered the premises, ushering everyone out.

Naturally I challenged their apparent leader, an inspector in civilian clothing named Barnes. He provided documentation declaring the inquest postponed until further notice and furthermore, the body was to be removed by his men. He spoke little and would not engage me in discussion of the matter. There was very little I could do in such circumstances, but I did accost the youngest of their number, one Constable Ferry, to ask where they were from (my work with Howell and in inquests leads me to know many police officials, by face, if not by name). 'Arcadia Branch' he replied, before a burly sergeant clipped him across the ear, ending any further conversation.

Notes have been made and passed to Howell. We are to meet on Friday to discuss the case further. 

New Characters for Victorian London

Our latest 28mm sculpts, four new characters  for Victorian London:

Sheraton Howell a Consulting Detective, Dr James Whittle, John Chinaman and Edward “The Tug” Peters.

Read all about Sheraton Howell and his companion Dr Whittle in the ongoing short stories here on the Highgate Miniatures Blog.

The Fox and Hounds - the chase concludes!

Janek Skorzany, the Vampire Master is fleeing through the semi deserted streets of Limehouse, with the Policemen of Hades Division and Professor DeSenzles  close on his tail trying to reach safety on the other side of town.

Trying to shake off his pursuers Skorzany charges into an alleyway, where Limehouse folk even at this late hour still ply their wares.

But the Scotland Yard detectives knowing the streets and back alleys of London far better than the Master move to intercept him.

Soon they are upon his heels and are close enough to fire their rifles at him time and again as he desperately tries to out run them.

Whilst the bullets do not kill the Vampire they serve to slow his ability to move at speed and he is forced to take shelter in a dark corner of the alley.

Caring little for his own safety Professor Desenzles seeing the Vampire weakened  seizes the opportunity and charges into hand to hand combat with The Master with only one thought to extinguish this foul creature!

But help for the Master is at hand, Lord Hardacre and Lord Luscombe have arrived and their henchmen charge forward to protect their Master.

A titantic struggle ensues, Rifles and pistols fire, cudgels crush and swords and knives cut through flesh! The Professor and the Master trade blows; claw and fang attack Stake and Cross!

The fighting is quick but very brutal. Professor Defenslez manages to drive his stake deep into The Vampire masters heart, but his triumph is short lived having seen the Masters body crumble to dust,  he is beaten to death by the masters enraged henchmen. The policemen are also overcome and many bodies litter this quiet corner of Limehouse.

EPILOGUE...

- Lord Hardacre and Lord Luscombe quickly disappear before more police arrive to contemplate what and how they will tell the Vampire Council about Janek Skorzany's demise.

- Professor Defenzles's friends recover his battered body and retreat to decide their future now that both Skorzany and Defenzles are dead.

- Detective Inspector Straker returns to Scotland Yard to inform his seniors that the Vampire threat to Limehouse has been eliminated.

THE END.


OR IS IT?

Who is this pale figure that lurks and watches from  the shadows?

A new power is rising in Limehouse....



TO BE CONTINUED!

 ;)