Thank you everyone for getting back to me so quickly. You all have definitely given me a lot of things to consider. Here are my thoughts so far:
Yeah, the mantis case is awesome. Better to start with a good case and power supply to protect my long-term investment.
Surface vs. Rings: I could go either way here because I like the sounds of both. However, antipythagoras does bring up a good point about the external input and the combination of synthetic and acoustic sounds. That is a direction I would like to go in, so Rings it is.
Bloom vs. Marbles: It seems to me that bloom is easier to get melodies going. That's why I picked that one. Does anyone have experience with both of these modules? I can try to learn Marbles in VCV rack since I won't incorporate it until later. If I gel with it, I may go that route.
Yeah, I don't need the headphones out from the euro rack because I have other gear.
I was hesitant about modules like disting and Ornaments and Crime. My music-making up to this point has been either in front of a computer or electronic gear with lots of menu diving, that I wanted to get away from that for euro rack. I will study this more because I don't want to eliminate helpful gear for the generative aspect.
So far, here is my updated plan for now : )
Phase 1: Mantis Case + A119 external input + Beads + Maths + S.B.G
Phase 2: Bloom (for now) + Rings + VCA
Phase 3: Plaits + Mixer
Phase 4: Further Expansion
https://cdn.modulargrid.net/img/racks/modulargrid_1742735.jpg
Well, phase 1 just got a lot more expensive, so time to save and continue playing around with VCV rack.
Thanks everyone,
Epaphraz