A handy video regarding Strength and swordfighting.

[Hoihe]

To those who enjoy getting into tiny bits of detail regarding their character, this video has some good information.

[Styxwash]

In reality, Stamina is certainly more important then pure strength.

One could assume that D&D Strength represents the ability to keep up a chars frequency of effective attacks, meaning more damage is dealt overall. Strength and Constitution always seem to overlap in this regard, since Con is logically closer to the Stamina aspect.

This would make more sense then describing it as how much force there is behind a blow - although in a fantasy world where you sometimes assume it's possible to cut directly through armor or super tough creature skin with magical or elemental weapons, it still makes sense.

[J.F.Payne]

Good video, but I think that guy, who made it understimates power very much. If you cut with great strength, blocking that blow is more difficult (if not impossible), if you cut properly, and even technically-right done defence doesn't need to be able to block it. There it depends on a weapon type, of course, on the length of the blade and of the distance between attacker and defender.

And those short example videos, which the guy made, are not so bad, but if the attacks would be delivered in a full strength and speed, and against more experienced or skillfull oponent, they'll be different. That figurant is some dedicated nerd girl, who can cut the bambus in peaces, but not a skilled fighter. If you attack her with a full stength, she wouldn't have a chance against it.

This is, for example, good video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ln94E9AGYTc

[Styxwash]

Nice video to.

I don't think he underestimates power, he just points out that without timing and skill, it's not worth quite as much.

As he says, your gonna have to overpower your opponent by a good deal for it to make any difference, in the case of equal skill - that should hold quite true, no?

[Bobthehero]

Strenght is needed for things like hitting plated peopel with an arming sword or any sword for that matter, at least those that couldn't be used for half-swording and doing damage