"Ruff-Puffs Review" Topic

"Since the foundation of the Republic of South Vietnam in 1955 there had been various territorial forces that were distinct from the Army (ARVN) and controlled by the Interior Ministry. One was the part-time Self-Defence Corps, charged with village self-defence, and the other major one was the Civil Guard, for wider internal security and public order duties. In 1964 the Civil Guard was renamed the Regional Force, and the Self-Defence Corps became the Popular Force. Together they were often referred to by the acronym RF/PF, which led to being known as ‘Ruff-Puffs' by the Americans. They were under the control of provincial and district chiefs, and while they might sometimes operate in conjunction with the ARVN, this was limited to their local area. However, increasingly organised by the ARVN, in 1970 they formally became part of the regular infantry, though still only within a specific area. By 1975 they amounted to over 530,000 troops.

In their early days, the Self-Defence Corps had worn ordinary peasant dress, but later on, both organisations wore a variety of fatigue uniforms little different from the Army. Some of the figures in this set could be painted as peasant dress, and the rest have fatigues that look reasonable. The men did wear helmets, although none of the figures here have them, perhaps to help distinguish them from the Army on the game table. However the range of hats here, including peaked caps, boonie hats and even the old jungle hat, are all reasonable choices. One man even seems to have acquired a police cap! Many of these men wear only sandals on the feet, but some have boots much like the infantry, so in appearance this set does pretty well in depicting the full history of these men. Kit often consists of just a belt with some ammo pouches and a water bottle attached, frequently old American stocks, but some have bandoliers or more modern American webbing, or locally-produced alternatives. Again, all perfectly valid for these troops…"

Full Review here
link

Amicalement
Armand

FYI – Skarper started a thread before … TMP link

Well… here you can see the "awaiting" review… (smile)

Amicalement
Armand