Guy Chapman aka JzG wrote
My problem here is that once an admin has been called into a firefight, one side or the other will invariably see them as partisan almost immediately,
Very true.
and I am not at all certain that I know when to stop providing administrative support against vandals by request of trusted editors in contentious articles: at what point am I "involved" and needing to step back?
My view: with 800 admins, you should be able to call in another one, when things get rough. If there are two of you, there is less need to worry about stepping back; just share the load.
Charles