Are the pedals distortion/OD effects or time-based stuff (chorus, delay, phaser/flanger stuff?). If you're using dist/OD, you'd probably want the cleanest platform you could find, like your "blackface." If it's just time-based, I don't suppose it'd really matter. Be ready to experiment with your time-based stuff both out front and through loops - things like phasers and flangers get waaaay too pronounced (aka sound like jets taking off) if you don't run them out front. Delays are definitely in the loop IMHO but there are no set rules.
One of the things that surprised me after getting my RM50C was how good my wah sounded with the "recto." In my experience, the dirtier the channel, the less vocal or throaty the wah's voice is.
FYI, my pedalboard used to be so big it was housed in a Rickenbacker hardshell converted to pedalboard, and it took two power supplies to run all the crap inside (I won't even attempt to list everything but it was a miracle my signal ever hit the amp).
I've purged down to just a Tech 21 Killer Wail Wah, a Voodoo Labs Proctavia, an old MIJ Boss compressor/sustainer and a MIJ Boss Super Phaser, the one with the two-mode rotary switch. Mode II allows me to fake a flanger half-assed. I was thinking about adding a delay but I'm so impressed with the RM's reverb (lush but transparent) I'm in no rush to go get one.