Not another new project?

I tend to have my most creative ideas when out walking the dog over the moors around Sheffield. Recently I got back from such an expedition with the thought, "I could wargame the Lowlives' and Firvulags' attack on Finiah using Dragon Rampant in 28mm scale". 

I'm guessing that sentence will mean very little to most of you. Mild spoilers ahead if that's the case.

The subject in question is the version of Pliocene Europe depicted in Julian May's Saga of the Exiles. This is the setting of a series of four books beginning with 1981's The Many-Coloured Land. 

I read this book and its sequels when I was at university and have revisited them several times since then. The story begins in a twenty-first-century Earth that's part of an interplanetary community where wide-spread "metapsychic" powers make for a prosperous and peaceful, if somewhat anodyne, society.

The only escape for those who don't fit in is a one-way time gate to Earth's Pliocene era (6 million years ago). Unfortunately what these exiles don't know is that Pliocene Europe is under the domination of a dimorphic alien race (the Tanu and the Firvulag), themselves exiled from their home galaxy because of their barbaric battle religion.

The idea that struck me was that, with modern plastic miniatures, I could probably wargame some of the fighting in the book in 28mm scale at a relatively small cost. My thinking was that I'd want to depict the following four types:

The Tanu - tall (2 metres plus) humanoids; I suspect some High Elf miniatures would do the job for these guys.

The Firvulag - stunted, dwarf-like creatures who project monstrous illusory aspects when in battle; pretty much any fantasy model will serve here.

Grey Torcs - human soldiers fighting for the Tanu; described as wearing light bronze armour and kettle helmets and sometimes surcoats in the colours of a Tanu metapsychic guild. The Fireforge medievals should suit.

The Lowlives - free-living humans on the run from the Tanu having an uneasy alliance with the Firvulag. They'll have some through the time gate in a variety of costumes but are increasingly adopting practical buckskin clothing. Like the Firvulag, almost any figure is justifiable though I'd like to have a go at depicting some particular characters.

And there my planning stopped when I realised I couldn't easily source 28mm scale chalicotheres - the distinctive riding animals of the Tanu army. 

And then I went to Hammerhead and discovered the Disain Studio stand selling a 3D printed range of prehistoric animals. I picked up a couple of "chalikos" for a tenner to experiment with.

The additional creature at the back is a cheap Chinese plastic toy I found years ago. It's a macrauchenid, a giraffoid creature from the right period. It was probably restricted to pliocene South America but I won't tell if you don't.

I now need to review the models I own and the ones I can pick up without breaking the bank. I don't want this to turn into a big thing but it might make for an interesting side-project particularly given the half-dozen-a-side scale of Song of Blades and Heroes.