I'm probably not the best person to answer, because I'm a collector rather than a user/outdoorsman. My best advice is to evaluate what you want to do, what can afford, and see what the best match is. My second best piece of advice (if the answer is that you want and can afford a Bussekin chopper) is to go to a show where Busse has a table -- a handle that feels good in my hand won't necessarily feel good to you, you might think that what I consider a good choice is either too big or not big enough, or you may not like the way it balances.

If you ignore the second piece of advice, here are a few more:
1) If you want to buy something that's available to you right now, and you're willing to spend a fair amount, the Busse Company has one model of NMSFNO left in stock, Desert sage with black machined micarta; the inventory is low and the cost is $327.00 + S&H (probably about $15). The NMSFNO is not a dedicated chopper, but is certainly adequate in that role and a better all-around blade than most dedicated choppers. Look around for reviews of them, you won't find much, if anything, bad said about them.

2) If you know someone going to Blade, and they're willing to proxy for you (it might be hard to get someone you haven't dealt with yet because you're still new -- it's not an old guy vs new guy thing so much as that I have more faith that someone who has a reputation to protect will act in good faith), then you might ask them to look for a Dog Father and/or a SoD for you. You can find both on the BladeForums Exchange, but many of the DFs have $100 added to their price, and I refuse to pay that high of a secondary market premium. Still, if someone proxys a DF for you, don't think it'll cost you $139.95; there'll be sales tax and shipping, which will add at least $25 to the base price. Bang-for-the-buck, Scrap Yard is your best choice among the Bussekin companies, but unfortunately, they don't have what you're looking for available online right now.

3) You might also consider getting on the M9LE waiting list -- While I like mine (and plan to keep them), I don't love them as much as many here. I think it's a bit heavy, having a chopper's weight, but a fighter's balance and blade style, and the price is high for a Swamp Rat. If I was only going to get one "chopper", and the comparison was between a M9LE and an NMSFNO, I'd choose the latter.

4) I hesitate to suggest this, and would only recommend it as an interim solution, but if you want a Dog Father, can't find a Blade proxy, and aren't willing to pay secondary markup, you might consider buying a temporary chopper. Personally, my recommendation would be a Himalayan Imports khukri, although if you want a straight blade, a KA-BAR/Becker BK-9 might also fill in until a Dog Father is available at release pricing.

5) If you want a dedicated chopper -- blade heavy and thick -- then THE knife that brought me to Busse was the Fusion Battle Mistress. However, my current opinion is that a lighter, chopper-capable all-around knife is a better choice, especially if you plan to carry it over a long-haul. FSH, NMSFNO, and SoD would fall into that category -- your ASH-1 might be a little shorter than optimal, but it would also serve.