I'm just a guy that applied a bunch of tile in his old house (floors, counter tops, walls, inside, outside, ceramic, slate, granite) (not all at the same time, it was a slow evolution over years).
Wet saw, absolutely whether you buy a cheap one or rent one. I think I bought one for around $100 that worked great and did tile and granite with it and then loaned it to a buddy that did the floor of his home in granite tiles.
Ok, I'm making some assumptions, this wall will have cabinets and counter tops, right? The Countertop will have a backsplash or just this tile that you're putting up? A range will be installed there under the hood so you won't really see the tile behind it including where the tile meets the floor/baseboard?
I assume the only thing that you're tiling behind is the range (not the cabinets). If that's the case, then I'd either use the bottom edge of the upper cabinets or the countertop as a line to start with whole tiles (I'd probably use the countertop). If you start with whole tiles at the countertop, then you'll have half as much cutting to do, and you'll have whole/perfect tiles starting down low. Most folks won't see the tiles where they meet the bottom of the cabinets unless they are short or duck down to look, so you won't see the cut tiles. Then extend the line of tiles to the range area and work from there.
whole tiles sitting on top of the counter
easier to see in this pic, the partial/cut tiles are at the bottom of the cabinet.
