get a mantis (6u/104hp) if you can, or a doepfer lc9 - these are the best bang for buck cases (hp/cost) that you can get and both have decent power supplies that have been around for quite a while
vcas are incredibly useful for both audio and modulation purposes - I think it's a great idea to have a play with them in vcvrack
I'd take veils over the intellijel quad - slightly smaller for starters
personally I'd recommend a Make Noise Maths over the b-company dual envelope/lfo - especially to a newbie - as it has possoibly the greatest modular learning resource - the 'maths illustrated supplement' dedicated to it - download the pdf and read through it a few times, ven if you don't buy the module, but it might inspire you to get the module, if you know what I mean...
good luck and have fun!
"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