I was looking over the races' skill bonuses and noticed something interesting about Argonians: they are the only race that does not get a bonus to some kind of damage-causing skills.

I'm not sure what this means, or even why I feel the need to post this observation. I just found it interesting.

Hand to Hand...

It used to be Spear though, back when we had spears.

Racial bonuses in Skyrim mean nothing. Imperials lost their Speech bonus (which went to Nords - wtf?), Redguards get +5 in a magic skill. Bosmer gained Lockpicking and Pickpocket bonus, apparently because they're all thieves now, not warriors...

spears :'( <3

Yeah, RIP spears. I'm having fun playing a Cyrodil Acrobat in Morrowind right now. Currently wielding a dwarven halberd, when I'm not using the crossbow, which is most of the time. Also, RIP crossbows.

I can see why the Speech bonus would be transferred to Nords for this game, and taken from Cyrodils. The Empire isn't popular right now, so the clever speech of Imperials, normally an advantage when there isn't a prejudice against it, becomes a disadvantage. Nords, on the other hand, are locals: they fit better into the culture, are better at exploiting local idioms and references, and avoiding faux pas.

As to the Argonian hand-to-hand bonus... is this even remotely functional? The impression I got is that it's only really useful at lower levels, and in brawls.

Just as the Khajiit's, yes only at low levels is it a replacement for a weapon, but when you hit 40 you cant even sneak attack a bandit