It began with a card game

Back in the dim dark recesses of 2008, there was a card game called VS System. Produced by Upper Deck, this was a CCG (as opposed to the current LCG version) that used licensed Marvel and DC properties (oh, and Hellboy) in card form and let you build your decks and slap cardboard rectangles on the table as you tested the Avengers vs the Justice League, the Sinister Syndicate vs the Arkham Inmates, the Fantastic Four vs the Legion of Super-Heroes, so on and so forth.

The game was, mechanically, simply the best I (and several of my pals) had ever experienced. After awhile Upper Deck made a push for community involvement, offering an award for the “best fansite” sorta thing. Thus, Lost Hemisphere was born, and it wasn’t long before we were awarded the prize of a complete set of foil Commons and Uncommons for one of the expansions. While I, Gdaybloke, was at the helm, CaptainSpud was my right hand and a number of other folks (we miss you, Pablo!) also helped to establish Lost Hemisphere as a website that was just plain fun, dammit.

About a year into Lost Hemisphere’s existence, I became aware of Privateer Press’ Warmachine/Hordes tabletop miniatures game, which we affectionately refer to as Warmahordes. I had played Warhammer and other miniatures games back in the old country, and I felt an itch… and the entry price point was right. Lost Hemisphere smoothly transitioned from CCG website to general gaming website, with a strong focus on Warmahordes. This led to a partnership with Privateer Press, and we were able to use our platform to help spread the good word of game accessory companies like Dragon Forge Design, Broken Egg and KR Multicase. We produced over 100 episodes of a podcast, and generally had a lovely time.

The second coming

After approximately a decade of shenanigans, real life jumped up and slapped us in the face, and Lost Hemisphere went on a sort of hiatus for awhile. Then, quietly, the words started coming again. Blog posts appeared, product reviews, and general nerdery. We resumed running monthly painting contests, and Lost Hemisphere widened its scope further to include pretty much all types of games, according to whatever took our fancy at the time.

Probably the highlight of this era was the monthly Paint The Target series, where we were able to use some of the products we’d received for review as prizes for people who, well, painted miniatures according to whatever target we’d set for that month. Didn’t matter if they were painted well or not, the only goal was participation, and it was wonderful seeing fans apply brushes to models month after month, sharing their own journeys as they mastered new techniques and embarked on new projects. 

Sadly, this came to an end in late 2021 after a DDOS attack hammered the site that our hosts were unable to counter. After trying to put in place barrier after barrier, measure after measure, the sad decision was made to enact a scorched earth policy.

And here we are

Welcome to Lost Hemisphere 3.0. Only time will tell how everything will evolve, but we’re looking forward to sharing more nerdery with you. Over the course of the isolation of the pandemic, online D&D has become a significant nerd outlet, but miniature painting continues to be a mainstay. Privateer Press will always have our heart (and we’re super excited for Warmachine Mk4), but Games Workshop games are on the radar, Broken AnviI’s Rivenstone has our attention (someone remind me to update that link once it’s out), Atomic Mass’ Marvel Crisis Protocol has our comic nostalgia by the throat, and numerous other nerdy pursuits call our name.

We look forward to sharing our adventures with you, and hope you enjoy your stay.