I can add a bit to this as I have three HFJ's on my layout.
My set-up is simply a NCE Power Cab controlling two NCE Switch 8 decoders programmed to throw 8 Tortoise Switch Machines. So depending on your needs, yes you still need to have something to throw the actual points.
As far as a yard ladder is concerned one thing I did notice was that if you wire the the frogs one after another on the juicer you may experience a buzzing coming from the HFJ. This is a problem with locos that have long wheelbases that may be in contact with two frogs at the same time like steam engines that have trucks with electrical pick ups in their tenders. I don't know technically what is happening, however while it doesn't short out the loco it is annoying and I imagine not good for the unit or your trains in the long run. What I did to remedy the problem was to
not wire the frog points in sequence. In other words, don't wire it up it up, 1,2,3,4,5,6. Try 1,3,5,2,4,6 or 1,2,5,6,3,4.
Like I said, I don't know technically why it does this and why my solution works, however I've wired up my ladder this way and played with the contacts for my double x-over when I experienced a similar problem and had to play with different wiring combos in order to get the little SPDT micro switches to work without any problems. This even after I checked out the Tam Valley Website and followed the wiring diagram they posted for an x-over. For some reason, the solution they posted, did not work for me.
What I did was take the blue wire and moved it to the far left contact or terminal. So numbered left to right I used 1,3,4,6. Numbers 2 & 5 were used for a couple other turnouts not related to the x-over.
However.
All that said, I really like them. They are certainly not difficult to install and work with and in my mind have greatly simplified my layout wiring this time around for me personally. As an added plus, I suppose if I want to, I can use the internal switches on the Torts for other things like lights and signals.