Closest Point to the Sun

We’re currently working hard on the redesigned Brazilian and Argentine fleets for Imperial Skies. They’re almost ready to go in fact, with the first samples waiting to be painted, and production moulds lined up at the workshop in anticipation.

But we’re getting into the swing of our South American adventure with a brand new aerial fleet. Ecuador lies in the north west corner of the continent, bordered by Colombia to the north and Peru to the east and south. During our research (yes, we do research things, we don’t make everything up – well, not all of it…) we learnt that the Galapagos Islands, 1000km out into the Pacific, are part of Ecuador (which, incidentally, just means ‘Equator’ in Spanish). And that, because of the way the planet bulges, the Chimborazo Volcano is the closest point on the earth to the sun.

All that aside, militarily the country is not the strongest in the region. When we were initially assessing the countries to determine the size of their air fleets, Ecuador ranked quite low, coming in just above Paraguay. As a result, the largest class are the Tunguruhua heavy cruisers, supported by a number of smaller craft.

The Ecuadorian airships are all armoured dirigibles, with their self-sealing gasbags supplemented by small Loewe Graviton Engines for additional lift. Only the Tunguruhua class have rotating turrets, with casemate guns on other ships plus flotillas of torpedo-armed small craft. Vessels use the prefix DAE; Dirigivel de la Armada del Ecuador.

The fleet has five models, and there’s a mini fleet pack and torpedo flotilla pack. We’ve also provided two flag sheets – the national flag changed in 1900 so we’ve drawn up before and after versions.

VANFP-3201 – Ecuadorian Air Guard Squadron Pack – £13.00
VANFP-3211 – Ecuadorian Torpedo Flotilla – £4.50
VANF-3201 – Ecuadorian Flag (1860-1900) – £0.50
VANF-3202 – Ecuadorian Flag (1900-2009) – £0.50

VAN-3201 – Tunguruhua class Heavy Cruiser – £3.00
VAN-3202 – Zamora class Light Cruiser – £1.75
VAN-3203 – Chimborazo class Destroyer – £1.25
VAN-3204 – Isla class Frigate – £1.00
VAN-3205 – Isabela class Torpedo Cutter (x3) – £1.50