Sometimes in games, fan fictions, books, or role plays, I'll come across incorrect information varying from insane (such as gold armor) to dumb general misconceptions (that armor is so heavy that knights were lifted onto their horses by a system of pulleys - blame Twain for that remark). This is a pet peeve of mine.
Typically, I see errors the most in role plays, so I will be referring mostly to them in my examples.
The information I'm giving is very bare bones and only comes from my still limited research (there are probably enough books on the matter to at least fill a small library and one can never have too much research). However, it's a good place to start, I suppose.
It is important to know what the hell you're talking about in a role play. It shows effort and understanding, it keeps you in better character, and it cuts down on cumbersome phrases, like, "On his shoulders are oval-shaped white plated of curved armor."
Typically, there are three fairly known kinds of metal European armor. At least, from what I've noticed in playing RPGs on my computer and have seen from other people doing the same.
These would be: plate, chain, and scale. These are often called platemail, chainmail, and scalemail in modern role-playing, despite the fact that "mail" comes from a word meaning "chain."
Depending on your audience, very few people will feel the need to call you out if you refer to plate armor as platemail. Heck, sometimes I still do it from a lifetime of playing games that use such vocabulary.
From: Renaissance Magazine:
SCALE ARMOR: Small rectangular plates of metal, attached to a leather or linen coat, lighter and more flexible than mail.
Scale armor is similar to a type of armor called lamellar armor, which is more common in Asian cultures and is made of small plates of armor laced together in rows. Though, according to wikipedia, a big difference between the two is that scale armor has backing. It is also more flexible than lamellar.
Plate armor! This is actually what role players or people into Dungeons and Dragons would call full plate.
Plate armor, as we know it, was actually a later creation, coming into play around the thirteenth century to help reinforce mail armor (that is, chain). Before that, it was used as early as Roman days to protect the torso and arms, but was expensive and not really the best.
Plate armor can be used to cover a fighter from head to toe in interlocking sheets of metal. Some plate armor allowed such flexibility that a fully armored knight could do a somersault. Another entry will fully detail the names of all these pieces, beyond the obvious chestplate (breastplate - which does include the backplate, by the way).
Chainmail!! Another beautiful classic. Chain armor is armor made of interwoven metal links. It's not good for sneaking around in - not that any metal armor is any good for that. Because "mail" means "chain," you can really just refer to chain armor as mail. Chainmail is a relatively new term. I like it, though.
There are different words for chain shirts, though.
Hauberk refers to a chain tunic, long sleeved, that reaches to the knee. A haubergeon goes to mid thigh, and a byrnie only reaches the waist. There are more mail garments, but that will have to wait for another time.
Like all armors, the effectiveness largely relies on the make of the individual piece. If mail is made with wide links and it isn't very closely knitted, you're going to have trouble with thinner piercing weapons, like arrows and rapiers.
However, well-made, closely knitted chain of respectably small, but not too small, links was very effective against nearly any medieval weapon. Of course, thickness of the links also matters.
That isn't to say that weapons couldn't break through mail armor, though. Quite the opposite. No plain armor is impervious. Just research more fully than this brief overview, and judge for yourself.
Note that it was also a used tactic to get around the armor, instead of through it. Remember: always armor your thighs. Major arteries rest there, and you can bleed out QUICK if they're cut.
Also note that chain is only protective against cuts and piercing. Bludgeoning weapons are... going to hurt. And sword blows may not cause you to bleed out, but they'll still HURT.
Finally, just remember that there is a lot I haven't gone into, here. While wikipedia isn't a good resource for everything, it is actually a good starting point for armor, and the information I've seen does appear to be largely correct. If you're lazy, at least read through most of the wikipedia articles.
Next time, I'll have an abridged list of sources and diagrams for plate armor.
Namárië.
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