It's fair advice from James, but kind of assumes that you'll want to "progress". I could turn it around and say get the least hardcore you require for your anticipated level of activity.
Either approach depends on an honest and realistic assessment of what you anticipate doing in the next few seasons (reasonable lifetime of the footwear). If you intend to 'progress' from walking on winter mountains to technical winter climbing then it might well make sense to go for B2 (or even B3) to be ready for that and tolerate the potentially less comfortable walking experience when on less demanding terrain. But on the other hand, if you're sure you never intend to get into activities that demand an axe in each hand, (and some people are), then imo it wouldn't make much sense to go beyond B1 for a suitable blend of comfortable walking and technical suitability.
I would say that sustained front-pointing is a bit of a dividing line. If you aspire to climb, say, Scottish grade 2 or harder, then its a lot easier in a B2 boot. If you really want to do hard stuff, 4 and above and maybe aspire to climbing ice falls at some point, then the stiffer the better. But for general mountain walking, I'd be quite happy with B1 or even less given suitable crampons.
It's not always that obvious, the dividing line between walking and mountaineering blurs more in winter conditions, but that's kind of where I'd start. I'm not sure 'hardcore' is a really helpful term here either fwiw or even 'winter'. I tend to think in terms of above and below the snowline and even this blurs as stuff like Microspikes and flexible crampons mean that footwear which traditionally is seen as unsuitable above the snowline, can actually be quite useable, at least for the odd day.
Not all B3 boots are equal either - some have a decent rocker on the fore foot and walk quite well, others weigh a ton and a half whilst others a kilo and a half. On a normal walking day in winter, usually it's a B0 boot for me and a flexible crampon. However, I somehow managed to only fit crampons to my boots just three times last year, I got away with kicking steps (B3 boots help hugely with this) and the huge amount of powder we had, made crampons usually unnecessary. I wore them on a Grade 2 ridge, a Grade 1 gully and then down the Devil's Kitchen one weekend when it was proper icy and I'd already taken a fall. Suffice to say, there really is no wrong or right - just keep your feet warm! Not a lot else matters.
As Kelvin says, some B3's are easier to walk in than others. I've a pair of plastic double B3 boots I'd be happy to use in summer walks. Be to warm, but sole unit "lets" you walk OK!
Travelling abroad, to places in winter outside UK, with more ice/snow than in UK, temps. down to -35c or more, I've worn them while travelling, with no problems.
May get 'funny looks' from peeps, but saves weight, so can pack the weight they would use, to take more stuff.
Cheers for all your help guys. I ended up going with the Mammut Mt Cascade boot which is B1 rated. In the next couple of years I don't massively see myself doing anything that much more vertical than I have done already and the slight more flex and lighter weight in the B1 will be of more advantage than having a stiffer B2 boot I may use to it's full potential. The Mammuts were also heavily discounted so saved a bit f cash as well!
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