For hogging metal it is hard to beat a DMT XXC 120 grit diasharp plate. They rip throuh steel faster than anything but power tools (good for flattening waterstones too). Follow that with a XC or coarse plate if you like.
These leave some pretty deep scratches so you'll need something like a Bester 500 or 700 grit waterstone to grind out the scratches. These cut very fast, soak up water quickly and are very hard so they dish very slowly. I like the Bester 700 even better than the Shapton 1k, but give it a rub on the sidewalk or DMT plate before using it to make sure it is flat and to break the surface glaze (maybe a smooth crust from the mold, firing glaze or something, but whatever it is is hard and makes the initial lapping difficult, but after that the stone handles just great).
If you want to add something between the diamond plates and the Bester, the Arato Kimi 220 grit pink brick is good (sold by Japan Woodworker or Epicurian Edge... these are huge 2" thick light pink waterstones that do wear, but more slowly than other 220 waterstones I've tried, and they are huge anyway. They leave an even surface that looks more like 400 grit finish (I'm told that King makes a similar green brick that you can usually find at one of the woodworking supply stores).
Cheap diamond plates loose their grit so aren't worth buying so I stick with DMT and EZe-Lap, which actually have diamonds embeded inside the top layer of metal rather than just bonded to the surface like the cheap stones (tried a Smith plate once... it was better than the cheapies but still didn't seem to last very well. I have not tried the 3M or Norton plates, but I would think they would be pretty good too).
Diamond plates are actually overly agressive and act like they are coarser than they should be when they are new (the plate has no give to it so is pretty scratchy until you wear the high riding diamonds down level with the rest of them... then it will seem to cut more slowly but will act like the grit they are supposed to be and produce a better, more even finish). When it finally seems worn out, you can sometimes refresh them by lapping a waterstone on it (will grind down the metal to expose any diamonds embeded below the surface)... something you can't do with the cheap plates that only have diamonds on the surface.
I love the XXC, XC and Coarse plates but am not so crazy about the fine ones... even after you break them in there are still a few high-riding stragglers that leave some deep scratches in an otherwise smooth surface. Which, is where the Pink Brick and Bester's come in (they leave a coarse but very even finish with no random deep scratches).
Follow the Bester 700 with a 2,000 grit Shapton pro (there is a Shapton 2k glass-stone and Bester also makes a 2k stone... other people really like these, but I haven't personally tried them since I was already happy with my "Pro" stone) and you get a nice smooth satin finish with just enough tooth to make a nice slicer. It is also fine enough that it is almost trivial to get push-cut edges and a mirror finish when followed by 4k and 8k stones.
