The Adventure Challenge: What Does Survival Look Like in Your World?

Something new has landed over on the Adventures with Peps Discord...The Monthly Adventure Challenge! Want an invite to Discord? Just ask me below.

The idea is pretty simple. Every month we'll throw out a theme, and everyone gets the chance to interpret it however they want. Paint something, build something, kitbash something, write some lore, take a cinematic photo, build a diorama... basically, if it gets the creative juices flowing, it counts.

And most importantly: There are no winners. There are no losers.

It's just an excuse to make something, and for our very first challenge, I went with a rather appropriate theme...

SURVIVAL

It turns out that survival means very different things depending on the universe you're playing in. It could be surviving the Cursed Earth, surviving the Time War, keeping an entire colony alive on the edge of a post-apocalyptic galaxy, or simply surviving long enough to finally finish that miniature you've been staring at for six months. And we've had some fantastic interpretations in August. So let’s jump in.

James — The Last Time Lord

James decided that if we're talking about survival, why not go with the 12th Doctor, and yes, apparently we have already established which Doctor is the best Doctor. I'll allow it (though I’m fond of the 3rd).

The model fits the theme surprisingly well. He's the last surviving member of the Time Lords, survived the Time War, and, in its own strange way, Doctor Who itself has survived for 63 years and mostly stood the test of time.

There's also something I particularly love about this miniature: That black suit. Seriously, James has absolutely nailed it. Black is one of those colours that I always struggle with. Getting something that is actually black while still having enough highlights and definition to show all the detail is much harder than it looks.

So James...You may have to teach me how you did that.

Dark Parrot — Justice in the Cursed Earth

Next up, we've got a rather unfortunate Judge. Dark Parrot took the Judge in Rad Cloak from Warlord Games and decided to send him wandering through the Cursed Earth.

His backstory? Apparently Judge Dredd made fun of his enormous lips.

This led to a crisis of faith, disillusionment with the Justice Department and ultimately this Judge wandering the wastelands bringing law to the lawless.

Honestly...I love it.

And this is exactly the sort of thing I hoped the challenge would produce. The Rad Cloak isn't an easy miniature to paint either. The cloak makes up most of the model, and all those folds give you a lot of surface to work with. Dark Parrot has done a cracking job with it.

But my favourite part is that he didn't try to hide the model's slightly unusual features. He used them. Those giant lips aren't a problem. They're now part of the character. And somewhere out there in the Cursed Earth, there's a very bitter Judge wandering around because Dredd hurt his feelings. Perfect.

Desert5000 — The Auditor Keeping the Galaxy Alive

Then we have Desert5000, who took survival in a completely different direction. Meet the Niamos Specialist Auditor for the Sudentland Trade Route.

His setting is a homebrew universe, and every miniature is another opportunity to explore a different corner of it. His job is essentially to keep a galactic-scale post-apocalyptic wasteland functioning. Goods come in. Goods go out. Colonies need supplies, and somebody has to work out whether there is enough to keep everyone alive.

He's responsible for weighing what has arrived against what different colonies actually need, while keeping corruption and graft at an "acceptable" level. Which means that, through the calculations he performs, countless people are either doomed to starvation...or given enough supplies to survive until the next shipment.

He's not necessarily good. He's not necessarily evil. He's simply doing the job that keeps thousands of scattered colonies alive after the war that broke the galaxy.

That is one hell of a backstory for a miniature. And it's a model I'd never seen before, which immediately sent me down the rabbit hole wanting to know more. The red robes also really make the miniature pop.

Happy2500 — The Sole Survivor

Happy2500 started this month with plans to paint an entire Cult of Mothman force, and then, as so often happens in this hobby...they got distracted (haha).

Instead, we got the Sole Survivor from Fallout 4. As someone who loves the Fallout franchise, I'm absolutely here for this. Happy has taken a character straight out of the video game and brought them onto the tabletop, which is exactly the sort of crossover nonsense I love.

Fallout has been one of those games I've been increasingly tempted by throughout 2026, so this isn't helping. Although I am still expecting that Cult of Mothman force at some point.

I'm watching you, Happy.

Bluewillow — Brotherhood Survivors

Then Bluewillow casually turned up with...Eight miniatures! For a monthly challenge. Personally in a good month I paint this many in total ha! I was not expecting an entire squad.

The entry is a group of Brotherhood survivors and, honestly, Bluewillow absolutely smashed it. The bold red works brilliantly alongside the pale skin tones and makes the whole unit really stand out.

I believe these are from the Stargrave range, which is becoming a bit of a problem for me. Because every time somebody posts another Stargrave miniature in the Discord, my urge to buy some gets a little bit stronger.

So thank you for that. My wallet appreciates it.

Adventures with Peps — The Mushroom Survivor

And finally...My turn. I’ve already shown off mine on this blog so you should recognise it. Initially, I had planned to paint some Helltrekkers from 2000 AD. Simple enough, right? Wrong! As tends to happen with my Sector 102 projects, a simple idea immediately became a much bigger project. So instead I ended up digging through the Cursed Earth internet files and became fascinated by Grubb's Disease.

That led to a victim. Then that victim started suggesting another idea. And now...I apparently built a mushroom man survivor. This challenge has already done exactly what I wanted it to do. It pushed me into trying something I hadn't really done before, including making my own mushrooms (with milliput and paperclips of all things), and has also got me looking at all those old sprues sitting around my hobby desk thinking: "I could probably make something out of that..." Which is both exciting and slightly dangerous.

And That's the Point

Looking through these entries, what I really love is that there isn't one definition of Survival. We've got a Time Lord, a disgruntled Judge wandering the Cursed Earth, a galactic accountant keeping colonies alive, a Fallout survivor, a group of Brotherhood survivors, and a mushroom-infested victim of Grubb's Disease.

All from completely different settings and completely different hobby backgrounds. That's what I wanted the Adventure Challenge to be. An excuse to make something. Maybe it's a miniature you've been meaning to paint. Maybe it's a character you've had sitting in your head for years. Maybe you try a new technique. Maybe you build something from scraps. Maybe you write 500 words of lore. Or maybe you just paint something because the theme gave you an excuse. There doesn't need to be a prize. There doesn't need to be a winner. Just make something, share it, and hopefully inspire somebody else to pick up their brush, and that's exactly what is happening here.

Want to Join In?

The Monthly Adventure Challenge is happening over on the Adventures with Peps Discord, with a new theme each month, and at the end of each challenge, I'll be putting together a Community Showcase on YouTube featuring everyone's creations. So whether you've been painting miniatures for 20 years or you've only just picked up your first brush...Come and join us.

Because the next challenge is coming. And who knows what adventure we'll get ourselves into next. See you over on Discord, adventurers!