Good Evening Gentlemen,
There is no reason that you could not play IHMN 'straight'. It is based firmly in the late Victorian period and most of the Weaponry and Talents would transfer quite well.
I expect that The British Army, Le Legion Entrangere, Scotland Yard, the USMC and the Brick Lane Commune would work perfectly fine without the 'extras'. The others might take a little conversion work. Adding a small amount of Gothic Horror by careful use of the Mystical Powers would be easy too.
Each company has one or two interesting characters, but the lists are written so that you really don't have to use them as there are also standard leader figures to draw upon.
One of the things about IHMN that may appeal to you all is that it has a fully-featured costing system for troops, weapons, armour, talents and powers. This is because we are actively encouraing you to create your own troop-types and companies.
The IHMN blog will be available soon and on this we will be featuring a lot more material and player's own creations.
Pip-pip,
Craig.