I'd go for a quad vca - you can use them for both audio and cv - so 4 is a better number than 1 or 2 even in a case this size - veils is only 10hp

I'd go for mia or select 2

Personally I reckon that Maths is a better 'my first proper modulation source' than anything else - due to the existence of the maths illustrated manual - which is a great modular primer - ie how to patch complex things from simple building blocks

I'd also recommend looking at kinks - really useful functionality in a small space

"some of the best base-level info to remember can be found in Jim's sigfile" @Lugia

Utility modules are the dull polish that makes the shiny modules actually shine!!!

sound sources < sound modifiers < modulation sources < utilities