Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/Assessment/2006/Failed

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Failed[edit]

F-105 Thunderchief[edit]

Completely rewritten with citations and references, comprehensive overview of this Vietnam War workhorse. - Emt147 Burninate! 01:50, 27 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

  • Oppose While the article is well written and appears to do a good job of covering the topic, the citations are really too few and far between. There are a number of (presumably) easily citable facts, particularly regarding technical specifications, that lack citations, and some paragraphs have no citations whatsoever. Carom 19:35, 27 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Needs more cites Once this article is throughly cited, it will get upgraded to A-class without trouble. But at the moment, as Carom says, it's not at that standard. Buckshot06 20:30, 27 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you for the feedback, I've gone through and added references where appropriate. Please re-evaluate. - Emt147 Burninate! 00:53, 29 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose There are not enough inline citations to warrent awarding A-class status to the article. TomStar81 (Talk) 02:52, 29 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Show me a guideline that indicates the minimum number of citations. Every claim and every significant statement has been cited, the rest of the material is assembled from sources in references. Please show specifically what needs to be cited. - Emt147 Burninate! 05:12, 29 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]
For reference, the current project guideline on citations is here. Kirill Lokshin 05:18, 29 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I tend to view a reference/note section as needing about 15-20 different sources or notes to be what I consider "well written", since that has now become an accepted guideline for FA-class articles (and to my way of thinking, A-class articles as well). This is the figure stated at WP:IC, which recieves a considerable amount of traffic from new comers and first time A-class/FA-class people who are not sure how to add inline citations. I do make exceptions to this general policy of mine if an article draws heavily on one primary source for most of the information. Having brought USS Missouri (BB-63) and USS Wisconsin (BB-64) up to FA status, and having guided them through the FAR process, I know that there are times when an article can be well written and well cited with a small amount of citations, or a large number of citations to the same source, and I have adjusted my vote accordingly under such circumstances. In this case though, I feel that the article could be better improved on. Take the following examples:
  • ...by March 1953 the USAF had reduced the order to 37 fighter-bombers and 9 tactical reconnaissance aircraft, citing the approaching end of the Korean War.
  • By the time the F-105 mockup had been completed in October 1953, the aircraft had grown so large that the Allison J71 turbojet intended for it was abandoned in favor of an even more powerful Pratt & Whitney J75.
  • The first production F-105B flew on 14 May 1957.
  • Nicknamed the Wild Weasel, these aircraft achieved 9 confirmed victories against North Vietnamese surface-to-air missile radars.
  • Although the F-105D was withdrawn from Vietnam in 1970, the Wild Weasel aircraft soldiered on until the end of the war.
  • The initial reaction of the fighter pilot community to their new aircraft was lukewarm.
None of these claims cite a source; there is no number at the end of the sentence or paragraph to back up these claims. Its not that I don’t think the article has potential; rather, the articles that we approve for A and FA-status should reflect the motto of the US Marine Corps: "The Few, The Proud", and this one is not quite there yet. I would encourage you not to give up though; I have absolute faith in your ability to get this article to A-class, or if you choose, Featured Status. As they say, the best things in life are worth working for :) TomStar81 (Talk) 02:52, 30 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Comment: I will address the issues you noted above. For future reference (yours, mine, and everyone else's), actually tagging the article with fact tags as was done with F-84 is by far the best way to give feedback on what exactly needs a citation. As I said in my F-84 comments, having done most of the writing makes a lot of the facts obvious and not needing a citation to me. I apologize for my frustration (I genuinely appreciate all constructive criticism) and I'll take care of the cites. - Emt147 Burninate! 22:49, 30 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Weak support Well written, did't notice major problems. I'd like to see more photos; the distribution of notes suggests there may be overreliance on a single source; but I don't think it should prevent the article from being rated as A-class. Bukvoed 11:26, 29 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Comment: Multiple sources make sense for controversial topics with many opinions or for very complex topics. The majority of citations are for dates and hard numbers, not something that would be subject to controversy or heated debates. I can cross-reference every number across 10 different sources (I do verify all the specs between several sources) but that would be pretty insane, wouldn't it? - Emt147 Burninate! 22:49, 30 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Perhaps I wasn't clear enough. Of course multiple sources for specific details aren't needed typically. What I wanted to say is that the article seems to be based on Knaack with relatively minor additions from other sources, which is sort of a shortcoming... at least I think so. Perhaps I have wrong impression; or perhaps Knaack is the definitive source; or... etc. Anyway, I like the article, it is comprehensive and well written, it probably already qualifies as A-class. Bukvoed 08:48, 31 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Comment The article is a combination of about half a dozen sources. It's easier from the writing standpoint to cite all numbers from one source but I can see how that would create an impression of overreliance on multiple sources. - Emt147 Burninate! 16:47, 31 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support. I really don't care how few citations there are, as long as the information is accurate. Of course, I have no idea if it is, which is the point of citations in the first place. But, for length, detail, style, etc, I'm happy to support it. LordAmeth 21:18, 30 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Battle of Khe Sanh[edit]

Previous nomination here.

Renominating for RM Gillespie; no opinion on the article. Kirill Lokshin 17:37, 10 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

  • Oppose still not encyclopedic writing style and unsourced claims that could be deleted. Wandalstouring 13:57, 11 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]
    • Any chance of this objection being made more specific (particularly in regard to identifying the unsourced claims)? Kirill Lokshin 16:03, 11 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]
      • Unsourced claims
        • The Hill Fights"During December and early January there were numerous sightings of PAVN troops and activities in the Khe Sanh area, but the sector remained relatively quiet."
        • Operation Niagara"As a result, on 7 March, for the first time during the Vietnam Conflict, air operations were placed under the control of a single manager. General Westmoreland had won this battle."(the construction that this is the reason demands a source)
        • The Fall of Lang Vei"It was not until 1500 hours that the relief operation was launched and it was successful. Of the 500 CIDG troops at Lang Vei, 200 had been killed or were missing and 75 more were wounded. Of the 24 Americans at the camp, ten had been killed and 11 wounded.
  • Comment regarding style. I will offer a few examples, but this list is not intended to be exhaustive.
    • Border Battles "Troops of the US 1st Infantry Division responded quickly and handed the NLF a severe beating" - this is not really an encyclopedic term.
    • The Hilld Fights "...afer running roughshod over the Marines..." - it is unclear whether or not this is the manguage used by the source. If it is, fine. If not, it should be reworded.
    • At All Costs "The North Vietnames, rocked by artillery fire..." Again, not really encyclopedic.
    • The Fall of Lang Vei "Colonel Lounds rubbed salt on the wounds..." Not encycolpedic, unnecessary English figure of speech.
    • Riddle of Khe Sanh - This is more of a general comment, but i wouldn't pose questions in an encyclopedia article. There a few questions in this paragraph that would be better reworded as statements (i.e. it is unclear whether the purpose was X or Y, rather than "But was their purpose X or Y?).
There are also quite a few passive construction that should be fixed, but I don't think that's too serious. In general, the article needs to be combed for unencyclopedic terms and phrasing. I'm more than happy to support if this is done, as I have no other queries that constitute a substantial objection at this point. Carom 17:26, 12 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Stylistic differences aside, is the article clearly written, factually correct, and well annotated? Are any unsourced claims still out there? Is the POV (aside lack of North Vietnamese sources, which, at present, do not exist) O.K? Is it too heavily biased? RM Gillespie 16:16, 13 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I will read it again, but issues you told were done remained unchanged and I did it myself yesterday. Wandalstouring 17:56, 13 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Battle of Khe Sanh[edit]

Just finished up thie article. RM Gillespie 12:34, 26 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

  • Minor objection This article is well sourced for the US side, but the writing style is sometimes too narrative and thus unencyclopedic. Missing is information from the Northern Vietnamese perspective (POV issue). Some pictures of Vietnamese soldiers (not dead ones) could also be helpful to balance this article and get a less US-centric view. Wandalstouring 20:45, 26 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Question: The article is really POV for the U.S./South Vietnamese side. Is it that there are no English sources available that give the North Vietnamese side of the battle? Looking on Amazon, I see a several books about the North Vietnamese' involvement in the conflict, some of which appear to have been written by North Vietnamese leaders like Vo Nguyen Giap. Do these books not cover the Khe Sanh battle? Or are they of limited use as historical records? Cla68 00:39, 27 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
    • I' not sure how to answer the criticism about a narrative writing style. When I whip open the old "Brittanica" and look up the "Battle of Gettysburg" I find a chronological narrative of the battle. Is the length of the article a problem? There are no pictures of dead Vietnamese soldiers in this article. As to Vietnamese sources, any description of Khe Sanh (and the Tet Offensive for that matter) get only cursory coverage (here I speak of Victory in Vietnam). The works of General Giap generally tend to fall into two catagories - the first deals with the First Indochina War (and Dien Bien Phu in particular) and the second is concerned with the theory and practice of People's War (People's Army, People's War, We Will Win and Great Victory, Great Task for example). Reading Giap for a description of particular military operations is as frustrating as reading von Clauswitz's On War or Moltke's On the Art of War for the same reason. RM Gillespie 21:17, 27 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I enjoyed reading Clausewitz. If there are no specific sources of the North Vietnamese available, quote some useful parts of Giap's writings (they can be very general, but show how the North Vietnamese worked and thought). Some weeks ago we had a similar problem with Arabian sources/POV on Operation Wrath of God (was on the main page a few days ago. We solved it by searching someone familiar with the Arabic point of view who helped us to find some critical sources (inner PLO conflicts, wrong targets, etc.). Try our Vietnamese speaking wikimembers, perhaps they can help. There are also lots of Vietnam veterans alive who often tell their stories and lead tourists around the old battle places (US Vietnam veterans are often among the tourists) so one way or another you can get more info. Wandalstouring 03:22, 28 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
We don't have many native speakers of Vietnamese and English so I asked all of them for help. some of them take an interest in the field of history, so we are likely to solve this problem a.s.a.p. Wandalstouring 04:24, 28 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support. If the U.S. POV is all that's available, then I guess there's nothing we can do about it. Hopefully, someday some memoirs from other North Vietnamese officers will be published or North Vietnamese military records will be released to the public. Otherwise, I think the article presents good information on the battle. I also think the writing is too dramatic in some places, but not enough to dissuade me from a support vote. I'm not sure how to describe the style that we try to use in our Wikipedia articles. They shouldn't be as dry as a grocery shopping list or the telephone book, but should only provide any "color" to the event in very measured, careful wording, if I understand right. Cla68 23:33, 27 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Comment The writing style is far too dramatic for my taste - such a style might be at home in an old Britannica, but is really not encyclopedic by any current standard. I don't know how to address the NPOV issue, as we can only use the sources available to us - if there are no good sources, there are no good sources. However, I think the NPOV problems created by the lack of good North Vietnames sources (if that is indeed the case) are exacerbated by an overly dramatic style - a change of tone would be a step in the right direction. Carom 00:54, 28 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Cambodian Civil War[edit]

Have just completed a heavy re-write of this article and am looking for any constructive criticism. RM Gillespie 01:13, 18 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

  • Looks good. Could do with links at the end of the article to what came next, for instance, linking Year Zero. Buckshot06 03:17, 18 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose. Under-cited and too opinionated. If the article is repeating the published opinions of credible historians, journalists, etc., commenting on the events reported in the article, that's fine. But, I can't tell if that's the case or if the opinions are from the article's editor(s) because of the lack of citations and references. The article, however, has a lot of good information and is definitely, in my opinion, at GA level. Cla68 10:06, 19 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Comment It is undercited, but only just - the topic of most concern regarding the citations is that they are totally lacking in one or two sections. The prose is high quality (although, as Cla68 notes, it seems a little too opinionated). There are some oddities like "neutralism," and a sprinkling of awkward sentences, but nothing too serious in that regard. The biggest problem is that, given the thinness of the citations in some (not all) areas, it is difficult to tell if the article is either a) faithfully reporting scholarly opinions, or b) in need of NPOV cleanup. (Has this had a proper peer revew? I forgot to look on the talk page.)(I looked. It hasn't, and that might not be a bad idea, as you are more likely to get a thorough critique of the article through that venue.) Carom 05:53, 20 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support Agree with above comments but I would like to support. The article is well written – which is very important. Although the section entitled - Revolt in Battambang – is unsourced, and is patchy elsewhere, including:
Initially arrayed against an armed force of such limited capability was arguably the best light infantry army in the world at the time
with over 50 citations this should be enough for A–Class. There are some FAs in the showcase with less than half that number of citations.
Some nice, well-placed pictures.
Very well sourced
Good work. Raymond Palmer 22:21, 20 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Caesar's invasions of Britain[edit]

I would like to self-nominate this page, it having been suggested to me by User:Kyriakos on my talk page. It has easily made B class and he and I both feel it has the potential to be GA / A class, or is there already. Any suggestions welcome - or even better, please improve it so it can make it.User|Neddyseagoon 21:41, 10 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

  • Support but my only suggestion is that you put in your sources. Kyriakos 02:20, 11 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose I think the article needs a thorough Peer Review first.
Set up here. User|Neddyseagoon 22:32, 11 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
My initial thoughts -
  • There doesn't seem to be any modern references used.
See new Sources section, now being expanded.User|Neddyseagoon 13:38, 13 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • In my opinion the trivia section should go - Carry On Cleo and the Goons?
Renamed and expanded, in line with this suggestionUser|Neddyseagoon 13:38, 13 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Raymond Palmer 13:34, 11 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Objection some chapters need to be expanded, otherwise they have little connection to the article. Wandalstouring 14:34, 12 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
For example? Do you mean the Discoveries one principally? User|Neddyseagoon 13:38, 13 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
The following chapters: Success?, Technology, Religion, Economic resources Wandalstouring 19:47, 14 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support I see nothing in particular that needs fixing or changing... In my book, it makes A-class, but maybe just barely. It's long, detailed, cites its sources... LordAmeth 20:29, 12 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

T-26[edit]

I self-nominate the T-26 article for an A-class peer review because I believe it fits the requirements, and it passed the single review for Good Article status pretty quickly. Although I'm currently waiting for a book to arrive through the mail so that I can add missing information to the article, I believe that the T-26 article already has what's necessary to be an A-class article. Beyond that, any feedback would be much appreciated. JonCatalan 16:12, 8 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

  • Oppose For now. Too many textual errors at the moment, eg:
With no major proponents of Tukhachevsky's theories alive or willing to speak, which previous advances were thrown out the window
After Khalkin Gol the T-26S would have a thicker armour plate and this plate welded onto the hull, as opposed to riveted.
Needs a careful re-read but the article has potential for A-Class.
All citations should come after the punctuation. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Raymond Palmer (talkcontribs)
I made some minor textual edits to those two sentences, and some other things I found, but I'd really appreciate it if a better writer would look over it. I also fixed all the referencing. Thanks! JonCatalan 18:42, 8 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose. A few too many text errors:
  • Who's Tukhachevky? (first paragraph after intro)
  • The last paragraph of the "Birth" section probably belongs in a different section.
  • Not all assertions are cited. One way around this is to make sure there's a citation at the end of every paragraph.

I think it's almost there. Cla68 06:33, 9 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Cretan War[edit]

Previous nominations here, here, here, and here.

Worked on the suggestions made in the last assessment and have added more synonyms for the most frequent words. Kyriakos 01:10, 6 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

  • Support The tone could still use some work, but A-class articles are not supposed to be perfect. I dislike the manner of the citations, however: why, exactly were the changed back to the original format? I find them unnecessarily confusing. Carom 20:18, 6 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
There was a discussion some people throught there were too many inline citations for five references. Kyriakos 21:32, 6 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Personally, I think that the current format is both confusing and, aesthetically speaking, rather unappealing. However, I'm not going to object over it, and if the weight of opinion is on the side of the current form, I won't complain any further. Carom 21:49, 6 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
There was a request for these changes. Wandalstouring 15:48, 7 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose There is some poor phrasing and/or punctuation:
It also led to an Aetolian defection and invasion, which was suppressed by Philip and Macedon's Greek allies, the Achean League, defecting to Rome and Philip's defeat in the Second Macedonian War.
  • This is also a bit confusing and definitely needs re-wording, otherwise it may come across as a bit comical:
While Philip was walking around Abydos, he saw people killing themselves and their families through stabbing, burning, hanging, and jumping down wells and rooftops. Philip was surprised to see this and he published a proclamation announcing that "he gave three days' grace to those who wished to hang or stab themselves."
What is confusing about this bit. Kyriakos 09:34, 9 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Thers are still some typos and spelling mistakes. It needs a careful re-read - many sentences are too verbose,
Philip saw that Pergamum was undermanned and he advanced with his army and started besieging the city.
  • others are missing words eg:
With the treaty concluded, Philip's army then began their assault Ptolemy's territories in Thrace.
Before the King of Pergamum, Attalus, set out to campaign had added additional strength to the city walls.
  • I don't think the satelite picture of the region adds anything to the article. Raymond Palmer 02:53, 9 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Weak Support I power read the entire thing in about five minutes. What I saw looked good: nice sources, good images, etc, but I am with holding my full support until I can find the time the read the entire article with my history/wikipedia-critical eyes, rather than my 11:18 PM Oh-my-God-why-did-I-put-off-studying-for-this-exam-until-the-last-minute eyes. :O TomStar81 (Talk)

Battle of Greece[edit]

This article is currently rated as "start" class. Vast improvements have been made to the article. The article is informative and well-sourced in my opinion and can be considered for at least "A-class" status. Periklis* 05:42, 4 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

  • Support Great article, well written, but could do with a few more inline citations.. Kyriakos 07:10, 4 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose Kyriakos is right about the citations, but I think it's a slightly bigger problem. Some of the sections (i.e. Greco-Italian War) have only one citation, and the articles they link to are not well cited either. It is especially important to cite claims like "Mussolini left Albania with his reputation tarnished." I don't dispute the statement, but it should be sourced. Carom 12:50, 4 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Comment I've added numerous more citations. If articles linking to this one don't have many references, that should not affect the quality of this article. Periklis* 02:50, 5 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]
    • Clarification Correct. My point was not that insufficient citations in the linked articles should prevent this article from attaining A-class. I was simply noting that the low citation count was not a result of links to well-cited articles and a desire to reduce the duplication of citations (which may or may not be a tenable position). The informal style is also a problem, as noted below. Carom 15:00, 5 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose This isn't a bad article by any standards, but it isn't quite 'there'. My main concern is the non-formal wording of some sections (eg, "Benito Mussolini had grown jealous of Hitler’s conquests and decided to do some conquering of his own") and contested views being presented without any qualifications (especially "Greek resistance in World War II proved to be a turning point in the war. The German invasion of Greece delayed the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union by six weeks" - Barbarossa was also delayed by the slow pace of airfield construction in Poland and Hitler didn't have to come to Mussolini's aid. A quote from a Hitler isn't enough to prove such a bold claim!). --Nick Dowling 11:06, 5 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Comment, being reluctant to support for now. This is a very nice article, but there are some serious flaws. Most important:1) the short lead, 2) the uncyclopedic mixture of "References" and "further reading", 3) and some wording problems that Nick Dowling has already pointed out. Additionally, there are some stylistic problems (for instance, we "quote"-we donot "quote"). Nevertheless, with a slight copy-editing and the correction of the things I pointed out I think that the article can soon get 'there'. In a few minutes a detailed review of mine will be available in Talk:Battle of Greece.--Yannismarou 16:19, 5 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support. My concerns are addressed.--Yannismarou 10:39, 8 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Cretan War[edit]

Previous nominations here, here, here, and here.

Worked on the suggestions made in the last assessment and have added more synonyms for the most frequent words. Kyriakos 01:10, 6 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

  • Support The tone could still use some work, but A-class articles are not supposed to be perfect. I dislike the manner of the citations, however: why, exactly were the changed back to the original format? I find them unnecessarily confusing. Carom 20:18, 6 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
There was a discussion some people throught there were too many inline citations for five references. Kyriakos 21:32, 6 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Personally, I think that the current format is both confusing and, aesthetically speaking, rather unappealing. However, I'm not going to object over it, and if the weight of opinion is on the side of the current form, I won't complain any further. Carom 21:49, 6 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
There was a request for these changes. Wandalstouring 15:48, 7 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose There is some poor phrasing and/or punctuation:
It also led to an Aetolian defection and invasion, which was suppressed by Philip and Macedon's Greek allies, the Achean League, defecting to Rome and Philip's defeat in the Second Macedonian War.
  • This is also a bit confusing and definitely needs re-wording, otherwise it may come across as a bit comical:
While Philip was walking around Abydos, he saw people killing themselves and their families through stabbing, burning, hanging, and jumping down wells and rooftops. Philip was surprised to see this and he published a proclamation announcing that "he gave three days' grace to those who wished to hang or stab themselves."
What is confusing about this bit. Kyriakos 09:34, 9 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Thers are still some typos and spelling mistakes. It needs a careful re-read - many sentences are too verbose,
Philip saw that Pergamum was undermanned and he advanced with his army and started besieging the city.
  • others are missing words eg:
With the treaty concluded, Philip's army then began their assault Ptolemy's territories in Thrace.
Before the King of Pergamum, Attalus, set out to campaign had added additional strength to the city walls.
  • I don't think the satelite picture of the region adds anything to the article. Raymond Palmer 02:53, 9 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Weak Support I power read the entire thing in about five minutes. What I saw looked good: nice sources, good images, etc, but I am with holding my full support until I can find the time the read the entire article with my history/wikipedia-critical eyes, rather than my 11:18 PM Oh-my-God-why-did-I-put-off-studying-for-this-exam-until-the-last-minute eyes. :O TomStar81 (Talk)

American Revolutionary War[edit]

Submitting pre-review A-Class article for consideration; no opinion on its quality. Kirill Lokshin 19:46, 29 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

  • Oppose The article has limited citations. I might be convinced that this is acceptable if the linked articles were well cited, but they are not. More specifically, all the sections on the various campaigns like citations, as do the main articles on those campaigns. Carom 19:56, 29 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • OpposeThe article's citations are way too limited - this is one of those articles which needs citations practically every sentence. Nor, as Carom noted, are the linked articles well cited - they are not either. This has the makings of a good article, but it does have some major weaknesses historically:
  • The Battle of Saratoga may well be one of the great turning points of history - certainly Sir Edward Creasy thought so, when he named it one of the 15 Decisive Battles of History. (Modern military historian Victor Davis Hanson agrees, among others) It is given relatively short shift in this article, and it does not mention Benedict Arnold's role at all, when most historians believe that without his leadership, the American Revolution would have been lost at Saratoga.
  • The article's section on the western theater of the war is accurate, but not anywhere close to being in depth enough. The effect of the death of Jane McCrea before Saratoga should not only be mentioned there, but emphasized greatly in this theater as it, and similiar tragedies brought in hordes of undecided frontiersmen to fight on the rebel's side out of fear of the British Indian allies.
  • The sections mentioned need major expansion, and the entire article desperately needs citing throughout.old windy bear 18:19, 30 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Fort Bliss[edit]

This is an article I have spent some three monthes overhauling in an effort to take it all the way to featured status. As it stands the article meets all preexisting requirements for A-status, so I am placing it here to gain consensus. Objects, if any, need to be specific, because I do not have time to conduct a through investigation to find the problems in the article (school work comes first). If your objects are not specific then I will ignore them. TomStar81 (Talk) 06:30, 27 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

  • Object Several sections, including "Reconstruction and the Pershing expedition," "Fort Bliss today," and "Base realignment and closure" have no citations, or the existing citations are insuffcient. For example, the article states that the base was realigned in 2005, and gives detailed information about the changes made, but gives no source. Carom 15:21, 27 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • ObjectThis is an article which has excellent potential, but again, as Carom said, it lacks citations. For it to be A status, it needs the citations. I like the article, consider it well written, informative, and as far as I know, it is correct. BUT, it has to be sourced throughout. Once that is done, I would support it for A status, but not until then. old windy bear 18:46, 30 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
    • Did you spot any sections aside from the three Carom pointed out that need citations, or were those three sections it? TomStar81 (Talk) 20:10, 30 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Much of the information in Early Fort Bliss needs sourcing - for instance, the information on "8 September 1849 the garrison party of several companies of the 3rd U.S. Infantry, commanded by Jefferson Van Horne, arrived in this area. On the noth side of the Rio Grande they found only four small and scattered settlements." What source gave this information? Also the entire Following September 11 needs sourcing. For instance, that section states "Fort Bliss has served as one of the major deployment centers for troops bound for Iraq and Afghanistan. This mission is accomplished by Biggs Army Airfield, which is included in the installation's supporting areas." What sourcing says so? What source do we have for the training of the Afghans later in that subsection? I believe the information is accurate - but we need sourcing. I realize this may seem trivial, but I think we need to point out specifics where we feel sourcing is necessary. This is a good article, but for A status, it needs much more sourcing. old windy bear 20:48, 30 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I know its not trivial; you are in the right as far as sources are concerned, but in some cases the sources are hard to come by, especially for the more recent things. To be frank some of the information comes from my own observations about the post since my family moved here lo those many years ago. At other time information comes from news broadcasts in the city, but those are not print sources and finding a copy of adio/visual information is difficult. I will do some further research into the material and see if I can find any sources for the information, but at the moment I have backlogged school work that I have to see to, so this project will have to take a backseat for now. TomStar81 (Talk) 21:06, 30 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
TomStar81 Please do not be discouraged! You have done an excellent job, but you just pointed out the biggest problem we sometimes encounter. We just cannot use information you simply observed - it violates the bann on original research. If I may make a suggestion, check with your local paper. Also the chamber of commerce. Also the Fort Bliss public information officer. The local paper should have articles on the updates and upgrades on the post, and they could give you the day of the article, why there you have your souce! As to the information on the early years, again, check with the Post information officer, he or she may have a good book that will give you the sources you need. You have an excellent article here that you have put a great deal of time and hard work in. I really do commend you on that, and suggest you check with the local paper, the chamber of commerce, and the Post Information Officer, and I believe you can come up with your sources. Additionally, if you remember which news broadcast it was, you could check with the station, and if they have the date, again, you have your source. old windy bear 21:15, 30 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Thankfully, that will be easy. The UTEP Library has a very generous collection of newspapers from the El Paso Times and the now defunct El Paso Herald Post, so I am not short for resources; however, finding and securing enough time to look through the archives is hard due to conflicting interests. At the moment, I am checking the online archives from the Fort Bliss Moniter to find BRAC info for 2005; since the moniter is the official Fort Bliss paper I know that I will find something in there that I can cite. Checking the Fort Bliss public information center will be tricking since the security at the base has been increased, I have heard horror stories of people waiting an hour just to get on to base, but I will take that suggestion under advisement. Thanks for the kind words ans suggestions! TomStar81 (Talk) 23:55, 30 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

TomStar81 I grew up as a military kid - an army brat, actually! - and served myself during Vietnam, so I know how the information officers can be! But you seem like a nice person, and they generally respond to nice people who are trying to portray the post in a positive light, which you certainly have! Your access to the libraries is outstanding, and I will be surprised if they don't resolve most of the needed cites. I think you have written an excellent article, and don't kill yourself, but as you can, do the things you are talking about, and I would wager you will find the sources! Again, please don't get discouraged, because you have done a fine job, with a lot of hard work and genuine interest in this subject - and it will get sourced, and rated as it deserves! old windy bear 02:38, 1 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Napoleonic Wars[edit]

Submitting pre-review A-Class article for consideration; no opinion on its quality. Kirill Lokshin 16:54, 26 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

  • Oppose due to failure to cite sources in all sections. Carom 17:36, 26 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose: You'll find that inline citations are a de facto requirement for an article to even attain good article status these days, much less A-class standing or featured article status. - Vedexent (talkcontribs) - 21:27, 26 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Object per above. Not ready yet.UberCryxic 04:08, 27 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose Lacks citation in all sections and has small base of reference for such a well published subject. As well it needs to be more pressice on the number of soldiers presented in the early sections, was this the number of soldiers over the course of the years or the regular enlistment every year of the conflict? the Napoleonic wars were not the first instance of state runned armies instead of mercenaries. Louis IV's french army was a standing army long before Revolutionary France. The Seven Years' War saw professional, pan-europe state funded armed force engaged in war half a century prior to Napoleon... --Dryzen 17:25, 27 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

United States Navy[edit]

Submitting pre-review A-Class article for consideration; no opinion on its quality. Kirill Lokshin 16:54, 26 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

  • Comment Prose and organization are pretty good; in many places was my model for the now-FA USMC. A few suggestions:
  • Good sources but more citations needed. Judgemental statements like "are roughly equivalent in striking power to most foreign aircraft carriers." definitely ought to be cited.
  • ToC is a bit loosely organized; there are too many top-level items. Relationship with the Marines and the Coast Guard could be tied together, perhaps under organization. Items like Special Warfare, MSC, and Coastal warfare can similarly be placed under "organization".
  • Some of the lists could be converted to prose, e.g. the list of fleets. I know it's inviting to tabulate them, but it does break up the flow of the prose.
  • The prose needs some fine-toothed combing before FAC but it's good enough for A-class. --Mmx1 19:46, 26 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support This is an excellent article and a very good model for the development of other articles on branches of an indidual nation's armed forces. The only suggestion I'd make is that the section headings could be tweaked a bit to make it clear that the article is focused on the USN as it currently stands. --Nick Dowling 11:55, 27 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Battle of Chancellorsville[edit]

Submitting pre-review A-Class article for consideration; no opinion on its quality. Kirill Lokshin 00:41, 26 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

  • Oppose due to insufficient citation of sources in all sections. Carom 01:00, 26 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Object Very few citations.UberCryxic 16:46, 26 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Hannibal Barca[edit]

Submitting pre-review A-Class article for consideration; no opinion on its quality. Kirill Lokshin 00:40, 26 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

  • Oppose due to insufficient citations, particularly in the section on the Second Punic War. Carom 01:37, 26 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose Not bad, but lacks citations, particulary when the first five citations deal with the same issue. There's also an error in the section called 'Stalemate'. I think there's a picture missing. Raymond Palmer 17:41, 26 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Currently Oppose The final legacy to the modern world could use some work and the Military History segment some citations (in particular, but not only, the 3 demands)as well as the bogeyman comment. As Raymond Palmer described there is some mauled code for an image. An enjoyable read and quite informative on his rather overlooked out-of war years.--Dryzen 17:56, 26 September 2006 (UTC) 17:54, 26 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose still lacks content in the biography section. Hannibal wasn't only a general. (I'm working myself on the issue). Wandalstouring 19:16, 26 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Military Assistance Command, Vietnam Studies and Observations Group[edit]

Completed nomination for RM Gillespie so no opinion from me on the quality. Carom 21:09, 21 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

  • Objections
First of all, I want to say this is a well-referenced and researched article, into which a lot of effort has been invested by someone who obviously has taken a keen interest in the subject matter. Kudos are in order. There is a great deal of information here, and the material is covered in depth.
However, I think there are some organizational and stylistic issues which should be addressed before the article is promoted to A-class.
1. Article Name: The article name is overly "Military Speak". I would recommend that the article be moved to Military Assistance Command Vietnam, Studies and Observations Group with MACV-SOG being a redirect page to it.
2. The Lead: This section is extremely short at one sentence. Ideally the lead should be a short summary of the entire article. A casual reader who only reads the intro should come away with a general idea of the entire article. I would refer you to the general Wikipedia guidelines and Military History Wikiproject guidelines for what should be contained in the lead.
3. Organization: Ideally, the table of contents should read as a hierarchy of sections and subsections. For example:
Unit Description
Unit Foundation & Mandate
Unit History
Event #1
Event #2
Event #3
etc.
Recognition
Notes
etc., etc.
This makes it easy for people to get a general "feel" for the article at a glance, and allows people coming back to use the article for reference to find a particular section quickly.
Again I would point you towards the Military History Wikiproject unit article guidelines for cues on how the article might be better organized.
4. Images: The article has none even though the infobox contains one. Regional maps of operations, images of the unit logos, snapshots of the terrain, vehicles, etc. would be helpful. Not only do they provide visual interest and break up the text, labeled detailed maps can clarify sections immensely. Especially helpful would be Table of Organization chart showing how the unit fit into the overall structure of the military units and commands operating in the theater. You describe this in the history section, but an organizational chart would be much clearer.
5. Wall of Acronyms: "MACVs and PAVNs and SOGs, oh my!". For the casual reader who is not well versed in modern military history, or the Vietnam conflict, the prose is very dense. It conveys a lot of information, but it does so in a very jargon-esque way. Remember that your typical audience member is probably intelligent and interested, but not well-versed in the field you are writing in. I understand that military acronyms are a fact of life in modern military organizations, but I repeatedly found myself flipping back and forth in the article trying to relocate the definitions of some of them.
6. Neutrality & Language: The text needs to be neutral, as accessible as possible by culture and background, and not allow the opinions and views of the author/editor to show. Statements like "How Washington could not comprehend the difference between the overt and the covert, after dealing for eight years with an enemy who was notorious for doing so, is beyond belief", seems to project the author's opinion and "tougher nut to crack" may be overly colloquial and informal.
All in all, this is an article that has a great deal of promise. It needs a lot of polishing and hammering, and work to bring it up to A-class level, but I think that the authors' efforts to date should be applauded.
In the future, it may be better to run the article though the project peer review process, and even the general Wikipedia peer review before submitting the article before submitting it to A-Class status review.
A good start, and I look forward to seeing this article evolve. - Vedexent 22:20, 22 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Finnish Civil War[edit]

After looking at this one for assessment, it seems up to scratch. Carom 04:31, 21 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

  • Support. Kyriakos 05:05, 21 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support Critical comments for further improvement : a little cleaning for consistency would improve the readability ("Civil War", "Finnish Civil War" and "War of the Year 1918" are used throughout - pick one), and there is potential for more consistent linking (years are sporadically linked) Medains 09:40, 21 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose The intro needs a rewrite and overall I am not a big fan of the writing style employed throughout the article. It also needs a big time edit to make it sound more professional. Great info in the article but needs some major editing.--Looper5920 11:09, 21 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose as per Looper5920'comments. The article definitly needs some clean up on the writing style and structures.--Dryzen 13:43, 21 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose as per Looper and Dryzen. The writing style could use some work, particularly in the intro, but once that is done, I think this is an excellent candidate in all other respects. LordAmeth 18:07, 21 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support, great information, and correct information as far as I can tell, a little cleanup is needed however. —MoRsΞ 11:31, 24 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
    The nomination was closed at this point. Kirill Lokshin 16:21, 26 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support, The article is copyedited / has been copyedited by RelHistBuff, "The intro needs a rewrite", done. --Pudeo (Talk) 16:18, 26 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Cretan War[edit]

Previous nominations here, here, here, and here.

Worked on the suggestions made in the last assessment and have added more synonyms for the most frequent words. Kyriakos 01:10, 6 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

  • Support The tone could still use some work, but A-class articles are not supposed to be perfect. I dislike the manner of the citations, however: why, exactly were the changed back to the original format? I find them unnecessarily confusing. Carom 20:18, 6 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
There was a discussion some people throught there were too many inline citations for five references. Kyriakos 21:32, 6 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Personally, I think that the current format is both confusing and, aesthetically speaking, rather unappealing. However, I'm not going to object over it, and if the weight of opinion is on the side of the current form, I won't complain any further. Carom 21:49, 6 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
There was a request for these changes. Wandalstouring 15:48, 7 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose There is some poor phrasing and/or punctuation:
It also led to an Aetolian defection and invasion, which was suppressed by Philip and Macedon's Greek allies, the Achean League, defecting to Rome and Philip's defeat in the Second Macedonian War.
  • This is also a bit confusing and definitely needs re-wording, otherwise it may come across as a bit comical:
While Philip was walking around Abydos, he saw people killing themselves and their families through stabbing, burning, hanging, and jumping down wells and rooftops. Philip was surprised to see this and he published a proclamation announcing that "he gave three days' grace to those who wished to hang or stab themselves."
What is confusing about this bit. Kyriakos 09:34, 9 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Thers are still some typos and spelling mistakes. It needs a careful re-read - many sentences are too verbose,
Philip saw that Pergamum was undermanned and he advanced with his army and started besieging the city.
  • others are missing words eg:
With the treaty concluded, Philip's army then began their assault Ptolemy's territories in Thrace.
Before the King of Pergamum, Attalus, set out to campaign had added additional strength to the city walls.
  • I don't think the satelite picture of the region adds anything to the article. Raymond Palmer 02:53, 9 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Weak Support I power read the entire thing in about five minutes. What I saw looked good: nice sources, good images, etc, but I am with holding my full support until I can find the time the read the entire article with my history/wikipedia-critical eyes, rather than my 11:18 PM Oh-my-God-why-did-I-put-off-studying-for-this-exam-until-the-last-minute eyes. :O TomStar81 (Talk)

Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/Assessment/Webley Revolver/Archive 1

Submarine[edit]

Submitting pre-review A-Class article for consideration; no opinion on its quality. Kirill Lokshin 01:22, 16 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

  • Oppose Organization has gotten better since I last read the article, but I feel that it can be better improved on. Also, the inline citations are noticably lacking for an article that tops out at 70 kilobytes. TomStar81 (Talk) 05:26, 16 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose agree with everything TomStar81 has written above. The article is very well written, it just needs many more citations and a more logical organization. Might be better to move the history up a bit. Also, it just does not read right to have modern civilian subs as the first paragraph after the intro. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Looper5920 (talkcontribs)
  • Oppose Needs Citations Raymond Palmer 17:03, 16 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Why is there no mention of the legendary Yellow Submarine, with which the Fab Four bravely defended Pepperland from the Blue Meanies?! I don't think the article can be complete without at least a 20kb section on this venerable fighting machine! ;-) --kingboyk 13:12, 17 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose, inline citations lacking, {{cite web}} format needed, and the external links section needs pruning. Titoxd(?!?) 19:34, 17 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Norwegian Campaign[edit]

Submitting pre-review A-Class article for consideration; no opinion on its quality. Kirill Lokshin 01:22, 16 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Battle of Marathon[edit]

One of the most famous battles of history,the first with double envelopment. After a recent merge a section was added with religious events. Has a large lead section, every section is referenced and has several images. While some improvement is necessary before FA (I do not know how to turn links into refs) it is worth IMO of A-classIkokki 12:15, 14 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Not listed on the review page until now. Kirill Lokshin 01:19, 16 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • oppose Not too bad but the English lets it down in places:
"Eretria was sieged and fell, and then the fleet landed in Marathon bay"

Needs copy-editing. The layout at the end needs changing Notes and References. Raymond Palmer 16:31, 16 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for your changes, I'll put a request for copyedits Ikokki 12:51, 18 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Minor support and Comment Good article, with a good overview of sources and backgrounds. The article will need some polish though and why all the hoplite pictures? I see no need to put 2 hoplite drawings, one will do to indicate the forces against Persian.--Dryzen 17:58, 18 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I wanted to put pictures to make it more readable and higher in quality. These were the related pictures I found at Wikimedia Commons. That simple. By now it seems it won't pass, I'll put a request for copyedits first and then renominate Ikokki 23:27, 19 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

History of the Royal Australian Navy[edit]

Article is currently at GA and has been peer reviewed by the project. I think it is at A-class level now. I am withholding my opinion on its quality as I have done a large majority of the work. Hossen27 02:57, 15 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

  • Comment There is at least one place (under 'Malaya') where a statement appears to be a quote drawn from a source, but no citation is provided (and indeed, even if a quote is not being used, the information needs some kind of citation. There is also some unfortunate use of the passive voice that hinders readability in a couple places. Carom 03:24, 15 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose Content is excellent but I think that some major editing needs to be done to make it read smoother and more professional. --Looper5920 02:02, 16 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Frederick II of Prussia[edit]

Submitting pre-review A-Class article for consideration; no opinion on its quality. Kirill Lokshin 14:00, 14 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

  • Oppose There are some problems with the footnotes (the format is poor) and I'm not convinced that there are enough. I also think some sections could be expanded, particularly 'Legacy'. Carom 18:14, 14 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose There seems to be more about his possible sexual orientation then his history. The tone of the article shifts radicaly form an Enlightened despot to military master mind to a hater of poles and jews. I also find that the article could be better partitioned in sections than what is currently laid out.--Dryzen 18:17, 14 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose I failed this for GA nom last month and I don't know if any of the issues I raised were addressed? --plange 06:46, 15 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Battle of Iwo Jima[edit]

Submitting pre-review A-Class article for consideration; no opinion on its quality. Kirill Lokshin 14:00, 14 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

  • Oppose, no inline citations and not enough refs. Is B-class easy, though... -- Grafikm (AutoGRAF) 16:48, 14 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose per above. Although I guess two oppositions are unneccessary. Carom 17:00, 14 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose this article is missing something very important. Actual paragraphs about the battle. 90% of the article is about the preparation. There still needs to be info added on the actual course of the battle.--Looper5920 20:05, 14 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Battle of Gallipoli[edit]

Submitting pre-review A-Class article for consideration; no opinion on its quality. Kirill Lokshin 14:00, 14 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

  • Oppose Needs to (vastly) improve citation, and there are some spots that could use editing for readability. Carom 16:49, 14 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Object More citations would be nice, and the article is generally disjointed.UberCryxic 02:00, 15 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Opppose The article contains many assertions which require a citation and it isn't a very easy read. The graphics in the article are well chosen though. --Nick Dowling 08:50, 15 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Cretan War[edit]

Previous nominations here, here, here, and here.

Worked on the suggestions made in the last assessment and have added more synonyms for the most frequent words. Kyriakos 01:10, 6 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

  • Support The tone could still use some work, but A-class articles are not supposed to be perfect. I dislike the manner of the citations, however: why, exactly were the changed back to the original format? I find them unnecessarily confusing. Carom 20:18, 6 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
There was a discussion some people throught there were too many inline citations for five references. Kyriakos 21:32, 6 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Personally, I think that the current format is both confusing and, aesthetically speaking, rather unappealing. However, I'm not going to object over it, and if the weight of opinion is on the side of the current form, I won't complain any further. Carom 21:49, 6 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
There was a request for these changes. Wandalstouring 15:48, 7 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose There is some poor phrasing and/or punctuation:
It also led to an Aetolian defection and invasion, which was suppressed by Philip and Macedon's Greek allies, the Achean League, defecting to Rome and Philip's defeat in the Second Macedonian War.
  • This is also a bit confusing and definitely needs re-wording, otherwise it may come across as a bit comical:
While Philip was walking around Abydos, he saw people killing themselves and their families through stabbing, burning, hanging, and jumping down wells and rooftops. Philip was surprised to see this and he published a proclamation announcing that "he gave three days' grace to those who wished to hang or stab themselves."
What is confusing about this bit. Kyriakos 09:34, 9 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Thers are still some typos and spelling mistakes. It needs a careful re-read - many sentences are too verbose,
Philip saw that Pergamum was undermanned and he advanced with his army and started besieging the city.
  • others are missing words eg:
With the treaty concluded, Philip's army then began their assault Ptolemy's territories in Thrace.
Before the King of Pergamum, Attalus, set out to campaign had added additional strength to the city walls.
  • I don't think the satelite picture of the region adds anything to the article. Raymond Palmer 02:53, 9 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Weak Support I power read the entire thing in about five minutes. What I saw looked good: nice sources, good images, etc, but I am with holding my full support until I can find the time the read the entire article with my history/wikipedia-critical eyes, rather than my 11:18 PM Oh-my-God-why-did-I-put-off-studying-for-this-exam-until-the-last-minute eyes. :O TomStar81 (Talk)

Battle of Fort Donelson[edit]

Submitting pre-review A-Class article for consideration; no opinion on its quality. Kirill Lokshin 01:05, 12 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

  • Oppose Again, too few citations. Carom 01:54, 12 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose As above Raymond Palmer 11:21, 13 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Battle of the Scheldt[edit]

Submitting pre-review A-Class article for consideration; no opinion on its quality. Kirill Lokshin 01:04, 12 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

  • Oppose Too few citations. Otherwise, it looks acceptable. Carom 01:35, 12 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose As above. The layout at the end need sorting. Notes: References: External links. Raymond Palmer 11:19, 13 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Robert E. Lee[edit]

Submitting pre-review A-Class article for consideration; no opinion on its quality. Kirill Lokshin 16:05, 10 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

  • Support Looks good to me, although some of the sections (i.e. Gettysburg) might benefit from a link to the main article. Carom 20:40, 10 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support KingPenguin 10:59, 12 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Weak Object - whole sections lack any inline citations and there are places where refs are appearing before punctuation and I'd like to see the trivia items re-worked into the prose. Also, Notes should go before References, right? --plange 22:31, 13 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Operation Market Garden[edit]

Submitting pre-review A-Class article for consideration; no opinion on its quality. Kirill Lokshin 16:04, 10 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

  • Oppose It's very well written, but I'm troubled by the lack of citations and the use of only three sources (the sources are themselves good, but given the wealth of literature on this topic, I think a more complete list is necessary). Carom 21:26, 10 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose Personally I feel there are far too many headings and sub-headings (I counted 54!) – it needs a major reorganisation. Also the info box is lacking in detail. A lot of quotes but no citations. Only three references. Raymond Palmer 23:38, 10 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Pontiac's Rebellion[edit]

Submitting pre-review A-Class article for consideration; no opinion on its quality. Kirill Lokshin 16:03, 10 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

  • Support Carom 03:26, 11 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support--Dryzen 17:47, 12 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Third Servile War[edit]

After much blood, sweat, and tears in researching, editing, writing, and map-creation, I think I've finally got the article on the Third Servile War beat into "acceptable" shape. The current peer review comments have prompted me to make some changes and to try the article out in the much tougher arena of the A-class review. While the article is currently listed as "A-class", this is the "old style" A-class, not the "reviewed style" A-class. Comments, criticisms, and suggestions are all most welcome. Finding means to improve the article, even if it fails this review, would still be a "win" in my books :) - Vedexent 22:59, 9 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

  • Support No real complaints from me. Carom 02:48, 10 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Minor objection Some more background of the social crisis feeding this conflict is needed. There are neither links nor info. Wandalstouring 15:12, 10 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

505th Parachute Infantry Regiment[edit]

Article includes nearly all of the regiments history, is well sourced and cited, contains additional information about the regiment including blazon and heraldry, and links to official regimental pages. SWATJester Ready Aim Fire! 11:20, 9 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

  • Oppose It is indeed well cited, but I think some of the sections are a little bare, and I would be very surprised if one could not locate information to bulk them up. Carom 16:17, 9 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose This is a good article, but it's not A class. As noted by Carom some sections lack detail and I think that it would benefit from the addition of photos to illustrate the Brigade's history. --Nick Dowling 23:51, 9 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Objection well sourced, but a bit limited. Give more info or links to other articles containing more info. Wandalstouring 15:21, 10 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • comment with 3 objections, I'll consider this failed. However, I'd like some help finding the photos (I'm no good whatsoever at finding fair-use or pd images) and bulking up some of the more recent history (i.e. post ww2). SWATJester Ready Aim Fire! 16:37, 11 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne[edit]

Submitting pre-review A-Class article for consideration; no opinion on its quality. Kirill Lokshin 00:47, 8 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

  • Weak Object The only referenced or cited source is a very old Britannica, and I would imagine it is possible to get more recent (and potentially more reliable) information about the subject. Carom 02:29, 8 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose There are plenty of printed reference sources on Turenne; using a single source is never sufficient, particularly when many printed sources can differ on the 'facts'. Also needs citation. Raymond Palmer 12:39, 8 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose per above --plange 15:34, 8 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Object per above.UberCryxic 04:32, 11 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Alexander the Great[edit]

Submitting pre-review A-Class article for consideration; no opinion on its quality. Kirill Lokshin 00:46, 8 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

  • Support Well written, although I wouldn't complain if it were slightly better cited. Carom 02:24, 8 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support Some issues with citations and pictures. Is this picture legal? Image:Alexanderbattle.jpg Wandalstouring 06:32, 8 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
    • I'm almost sure that it is not, seeing as how it comes from the video game Rome: Total War. I believe there was a discussion a few weeks ago, and it was determined that such images did not comply with the proper Wiki rules on images. --Laserbeamcrossfire 07:32, 8 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
      • It may be; given that the article is explicitly discussing how he's depicted in modern culture, there's probably a valid fair use claim for such an image here. Kirill Lokshin 09:49, 8 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Object picture missing (redlink?) and there are several sections where there are no inline citations at all --plange 15:36, 8 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Object for now. Insufficient in-line citations.--Yannismarou 17:06, 11 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Battle of Krasny Bor[edit]

Submitting pre-review A-Class article for consideration; no opinion on its quality. Kirill Lokshin 03:14, 7 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

  • Oppose. A nice, long, and detailed article. But not quite as long and detailed as I personally believe A-class should be. LordAmeth 03:22, 7 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose Needs more citations to be A-class, although otherwise, it seems ok. Carom 03:33, 7 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose. Good article, not A-class. See comments above. Raymond Palmer 19:25, 7 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

M1 Garand[edit]

Submitting pre-review A-Class article for consideration; no opinion on its quality. Kirill Lokshin 03:14, 7 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

  • Support. I have zero knowledge or expertise as regards firearms, but a cursory examination seems to indicate that this article contains exhaustive coverage of the subject. Pictures, tables on variants, diagrams, and a fair number of references. LordAmeth 03:24, 7 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Weak Oppose I think it should probably cite sources a little better in a couple of sections, but I'm not too troubled. Carom 03:37, 7 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose more sources, especially if quoting somebody. Wandalstouring 06:36, 7 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Charlemagne[edit]

Submitting pre-review A-Class article for consideration; no opinion on its quality. Kirill Lokshin 03:14, 7 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

  • Oppose. I'm afraid I have to vote "oppose" for now. Though well beyond many B-class articles for length and detail, this article has a very short introduction, and not nearly enough references. LordAmeth 03:27, 7 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose Far too weak on citations (only three in an article of this length is really not quite right). Carom 03:39, 7 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Operation Barbarossa[edit]

Submitting pre-review A-Class article for consideration; no opinion on its quality. Kirill Lokshin 03:11, 7 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

  • Oppose. A nice long, detailed article, with pictures, maps, good sections, a link to a translation of Hitler's directive itself, even a quote. But even so, it is not as long as many other GA+ articles are. Also, there aren't very many footnotes, and all the references are in Russian. LordAmeth 03:33, 7 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose I'm not troubled by length (an article is what it is), or the references in Russian (if they aren't available in English, they aren't available), but the lack of citations is troubling enough for opposition. Carom 03:41, 7 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose too few sources and mostly Russian. There are several books listed under further reading. They could be used better. Wandalstouring 06:31, 7 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Landing at Anzac Cove[edit]

Submitting pre-review A-Class article for consideration; no opinion on its quality. Kirill Lokshin 11:31, 6 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

  • Oppose as not citing any sources or providing any references (not even weblinks). Carom 12:52, 6 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose, with no sources at all, no way it can be A-class. -- Grafikm (AutoGRAF) 13:49, 6 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose no sources. no A-class. Wandalstouring 16:04, 6 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Mongol invasion of Central Asia[edit]

Submitting pre-review A-Class article for consideration; no opinion on its quality. Kirill Lokshin 12:21, 5 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

  • Weak Support (is that even an option?). I'm a little troubled by the low number of references. Carom 13:53, 5 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Strong objection needs some quality sources.
"Even his invasions of China, to that point, had involved no more bloodshed that nomadic invasions such as the Huns had previously mounted, had caused.[1]"
This claim can be severely contested. Chinese sources in other articles say 100% different.
"but Genghis Khan introduced the world to tactics that would not be seen again until the Germans used them so well in World War II - indirect attack, and complete and utter terror and slaughter of populations wholesale as weapons of war."
Seems to forget the Boer War and the Confederate Cavalry, while slaughtering of population was an ideological motivated instrument of German warfare in the Nazi era and served very contraproductive to the efforts of establishing a stable German rule (partisans). For the Mongols it was an instrument of establishing a rule and so say all contemporary sources.
"(It must be noted that Genghis Khan eventually abrogated every allegiance he ever made, but in the short term, he probably did not intend to invade the Khwarezmid Empire when he did) [3]"
Alliance with equals or rebellions of allied minors who had to serve?
"Genghis then sent a 500-man caravan, comprised of Muslims to officially establish trade ties with Khwarezmia. However Inalchuq, the governor of the Khwarezmian city of Otrar, had the members of the caravan that came from Mongolia arrested, claiming that the caravan was a conspiracy against Khwarezmia. It seems unlikely, however, that any members of the trade delegation were spies. Nor does it seem likely that Genghis was trying to provoke a conflict with the Khwarezmid Empire, considering he was still dealing with the Jin in northeastern China.[3]"
Needs some more sourcing about Mongol spying practice and intelligence gathering.
"The city leaders opened the gates to Bukhara, though a unit of Turkish defenders held the city's citadel for another twelve days. Survivors from the citadel were executed, artisans and craftsmen were sent back to Mongolia, young men who had not fought were drafted into the Mongolian army and the rest of the population was sent into slavery. This was to be Genghis' typical treatment of captured cities throughout the rest of the campaign. As the Mongol soldiers looted the city, a fire broke out, razing the majority of the city to the ground.[7]"
Did this happen to the cooperative population of Buchara or did someone misquote?
"After the fall of Bukhara, Genghis headed west, towards the Khwarezmi capital of Samarkand and arrived at the city in March 1220. Samarkand was significantly more fortified and there were as many as 100,000 men defending the city. As Genghis began seiging the city, his sons Chaghatai and Ogodei joined him after finishing off the reduction of Otrar and the joint Mongol forces launched an assault on the city. Using prisoners as body shields, the Mongols attacked. On the third day of fighting, the Samarkand garrison launched a counterattack. Feigning retreat, Genghis reportedly drew out a garrison force of 50,000 outside the fortifications of Samarkand and slaughtered them in open combat. Muhammad attempted to relieve the city twice, but was driven back. On the fifth day, all but an approximate 2,000 soldiers surrendered. The remaining soldiers, diehard supporters of the Shah, held out in the citadel. After the fortress fell, Genghis reneged on his surrender terms and executed every soldier that had taken arms against him at Samarkand."
These claims really need sourcing. So many defenders in a city? How did the Mongols win so easily if they mistreated all allies all the time, this needs really more sourcing and an expert. Wandalstouring 14:44, 5 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

10th of August (French Revolution)[edit]

Submitting pre-review A-Class article for consideration; no opinion on its quality. Kirill Lokshin 21:11, 3 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

  • Oppose - needs more inline citations and current web links inline converted to proper footnotes --plange 02:44, 5 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose per above. Although otherwise, it looks good. Carom 03:25, 5 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose same reasons Wandalstouring 22:08, 6 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose references and inline citations are both lacking.Raymond Palmer 23:48, 6 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Breaker Morant[edit]

Submitting pre-review A-Class article for consideration; no opinion on its quality. Kirill Lokshin 21:13, 3 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

  • Oppose - not a single footnote in the text. No way should any unsourced article ever be rated more than Start in my opinion.Michael DoroshTalk 02:39, 5 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose per MD, though I'd say it's B-class -plange 02:42, 5 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose per MD. TomStar81 (Talk) 02:50, 5 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose per above, although I also think it's B-Class. Carom 03:23, 5 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose, it's B-class only. -- Grafikm (AutoGRAF) 13:45, 6 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]