I hate "historically accurate" armor and weapons in a fantasy setting. Not because I don't think such things should function like their real world counterparts (they should, honestly) but because this isn't the real world. This is not England or Scotland, or Sweden. These are not the Normans, Vikings, Saxons, Celtics, or Gauls. These are people on a different world with different ideas, different cultures, and different martial philosophies. The armor and weapons should reflect that. I'm not saying spiked bikinis (those are kind of silly, honestly), but what I AM saying is that the designs should be functional while reflecting an alien culture. If that means near naked berserkers, go for it. If it means full suits of heavy armor with pauldrons and big tower shields, go for it. But whatever the design it should fit the culture, the resources available, and the martial philosophies of the fighters.
On the other side of the coin, I think the armor and weapons should FUNCTION like their real world counterparts as I mentioned above. Meaning that chain mail should not be "less restrictive" then full plate armor, but the other way around. This means that stabbing attacks should rip chain mail like paper. this means the rogue weidling thumbtacks should not be doing more damage then the 300 pound orc smashing things with a giant axe. And frankly what I'd really love to see if different weapons having different effects on different armor types, so the tactics isn't so much "get the fighter over there to tank the dude while the mage readies his fireball," but the fighter is figuring out what kind of weapon he needs to use for the given situation for maximum effect.