Hello and welcome to L-O!
The Battalion Box is a pretty useful way to get a new LM army up and running, though it can depend on your play style - meaning there are some who don't use the CoC and there are just as many who do ( I do). From what I gather in your post, CoC isn't in your play style. .and that's fine.
As with most beginning lists, it's a matter of getting a good core bult supported with a hero or two - which you've got. Skinks are very useful and depending on how you think you'll run them will depend on how many you may wish to get. There are some here on the forums who like to run Skink hordes. If this is the case, then 2 boxes of them is needed. If you are more of a skirmish style of playing, then imo, you may want to consider getting one box of skinks and picking up another box of saurus. With 2 attacks and good armour (esp if you add sheilds) they are one of the top core choices in the game.
Adding a Scar Vet to the saurus block will definately beef them up and help you against challenges. One of my favorite weapons to give a scar vet is Burning Blade of Chotec - giving the target a -2 penalty to armour saves in addition to any strength mods... and it's a flaming attack to boot! That gives you 30 points left to spend which would depend on what you're up against.
The skink priest is stuck with Lore of Heavens and has a 50 pt. magic spending limit as well. Spending an additional 35 points on making him level 2 would be helpful. If your opponent is strong in magic, one of the first things I take is a dispel scroll. Some will probably suggest taking Cupped Hands for a faster way of getting rid of opponents sorceror, though it's a 1x use (and that may be all you'll need to!) and a 45 point item to boot. In a recent game, a skink priest used cupped hands on my Orc Shaman and the results ended up killing him.. so yeah, cupped hands can be pretty devestating to your opponent. Though this would leave you with 5 points left to spend on magic.
Anyways, hope this helps some! The magical items you can take on hero's etc. should reflect your best chance depending on what army your playing against. Is there specific armies you will be more than likely playing against, or are you planning on building an all-comers army?
