Remathilis
Legend
My only issue with this order and which makes me feel a bit like we lose something... is losing chain mail as an armor to strive for. Having it be the bottom of the heavy armors means that people are going to try and get out of it as soon as possible... and it just feels weird to me to have chain be so inconsequential. By the same token, having Ring Mail be the ultimate light armor to strive for also sits weird for me. Personally... even if the "real" armors would be listed differently in terms of protection... I'd rather group all the leathers, all the mails, and all the plates together, with the most iconics being in places of import. So something more in this way:
Cloth/Padded Armor
Leather Armor
Hide Armor/Brigandine
Ring Mail
Scale Mail
Chain Mail
Breastplate
Half-Plate
Full Plate
I can endorse this list as well.