You will get little consensus because there's no "right way." You will be tempted to buy lots of gear without fully knowing when or even if you'll use it. So I would strongly recommended buying as you plan a project. One thing that will be true is that you will develop your own set of methods, which for whatever reason suit you personally. You'll discover that many tools you thought you would need are rarely or never used. So start small and go easy on the costs.

As far as sharpening goes, I use a really flat hard surface, granite or glass, to get chisels and plane blades ready for use, with coarse 80 or 120 grit wet dry paper. It's easy to maintain a bevel with a diamond or a water stone, finish with a strop. Make your own strop. Paul Sellers has a nice video about making a strop. As far as bench chisels go, I would suggest the Veritas O1s, or the Narex Richters (about half the price). The Veritas have no "lands" or flats between the tapers and the sides of the blades, so they slide into angles easily, eliminating the need for a fishtail. You probably only want one or two mortise chisels, and you can always add to your collection if you want to. A 5/16" or 1/4" are good and will probably see the most use unless you take up timber framing.