Re: [Swordmanship] Little question
Make a tank mage. It's the most fun, most old school template out there, and it's all I play.
It's what you've been suggesting all along:
Magery
Evalint
Meditation
Resist
Swordsmanship
Tactics
Anatomy
80 Str
100 Int
45 Dex
(Eval+Anat)/2 = Defensive wrestling, so you don't need wrestling. By GMing Eval and Anat, you'll have a 50% chance to evade GM physical attackers.
Str/2+50 = HP, so with 80 Str you'll have 90 HP. With pots, that's 110. If you can't keep up your strength against a chronic weaken caster, use a pot and let him weaken you twice; you'll still have 88 HP, enough to survive any dump with even numbers.
You'll be able to do anything any mage can do, plus you'll be able to use halberds for big hits and concussion blows, katanas for disruption and poison (I carry a DP kat all the time), and bolas against runners. While you're not quite as fast as a dexer, you do hit just as hard, and a little fancy footwork will negate their dex advantage and keep you swinging just as fast as they do.
If a fight runs long and you find yourself and your enemy, another mage, both out of mana, you're going to win. You can keep him concussed and passively regain your mana while he futilely tries to meditate and wastes every point of mana he gets back on keeping himself healed. You should only ever have to outheal one dump in a fight. None if you're lucky enough to land a concussion blow early and follow it up with a feeblemind, bringing your target down to 39 int.
It's been around since day 1 of UO, and it's still around now. That alone should be enough to convince you it's worth trying out.