the sword of choice would also depend on the person using it.
for instance, a bastard sword is deadly in the hands of a person with the musculature to weild it properly, if you've ever seen rememants of medievil armour there are some instances of people being cloven in two from the shoulder to the waist across the torso in one slashing stroke.
however, a bastard sword is useless if you are of a lighter frame, or plan on using speed. a curved sword is usually lighter and smaller, better for quick slashing motions that can disable an enemy so you can get onto the next. a slash across the body is going to disable most enemies, and it doesn't really matter that they're not immediatly dead when they have a 2' gash in them, because it's going to happen pretty soon after.
it all really depends on your fighting style, whether you like to go in with brute force and just hack you enemy to death, or get in a fencing match (at the extremes).
however, the fun comes in when you get semi-curved long swords (think elf from LOTR). All the power and strength of a larger sword, with the subtle curve that gives it that little bit more ease to slash and parry.
