guess it also depends on whether your enemy is armoured. If he is, will a thrust do much damage? A swing has more momentum and will probably better for breaking bones through armour, even if the armour is not penetrated.
Don't know I never tried that . (BTW whoever said that fencing is probably not much guide to how knights or Romans fought is of course spot on. its just a sport. But you can maybe make some comments from it).

In principle, I believe a thrust is MORE effective against an armoured opponent, because it opposes a smaller surface (the point) against a smaller area, and so the pressure should be greater. (The other factors are velocity and mass. For the sake of argument a swinging blade might move faster, though it would be worth measuring. Mass is on the side of the thrust though, as it will have much of your body weight behind it, whereas the swing has only arm, maybe shoulder). Also you have more chance to target a weak area (IMHO), and against chain, it would obviiusly be very much superior to a slash.

However I would think your chance of breaking the blade would be very high precisely because of the forces you are asking it to transmit, unless it was of very high, possibly unattainably high, quality. Hence presumably one reason for the polearm, where the metal blade is kept short and most of the length a good reliable wooden pole

i've (VERY carefully) tested live thrusting blades against cutting blades before. If the point of a thrusting blade can be avoided, then, the thrusting swordsman is screwed.
I imagine so, though its a big if, and in foil and epee that is why you have beat attacks, disengages and so on. What I think this does show is that in "real" conditions rather than on the piste or in the dojo factors such as distance, space and balance become so important that its quite hard to say one approach is better than another. Face to face, one on one, I personally would choose an epee like weapon every time . In a confused melee with friends and enemies on all sides at all distances a sabre like weapon may well be more effective. After all they were in military use up until the end of the sword era so that has to tell us something.