1. Although this may be irrelevant and even normal, the VMware logs always complain that "C:\Users\msm\AppData\Roaming\VMware\config.ini" cannot be found ("msm" is my user account). Sure enough, that folder contains only "inventory.vmls" and "preferences,ini". Does this matter? For your reference, I am attaching the three log files associated with one of my VMs.
It hurts nothing that the file does not exist and the message you see is normal and expected and if you do not want to see the message in the .log file then manually create the missing file as a zero length file.
why couldn’t the Linux kernel in Acronis Recovery Media find the virtual disk?
I'd say it was either or both that the Acronis Recovery Media was not loading drivers to see the LSI Logic SAS SCSI controller and or the because the virtual hard disk had not yet been partitioned/formatted.
3. If anyone is still reading this
ROFLMAO 
Should I be installing my physical host’s AMD Catalyst/Radeon display adapter driver inside the VM?
No, because that device does not, not can it, exist inside the Virtual Machine! 
I am wondering whether virtualization is mature enough for me to use it *all the time* going forward? Does it make sense to rebuild my host system as bare bones with only device drivers… and then load my 100 GB of applications into one or more VMs?
Only you can make that determination however in the long run IMO clean building is always better then a P2Ved VM.
If there is any merit to this pipe dream, then I need to understand exactly what belongs in the physical host and what belongs in the VM. For example, I’ve been experimenting with various outbound VPN solutions (AirVPN/OpenVPN, VPN4ALL, others). Can they reside in VM?
Yes they can.
Should anti-virus be physical or virtual or both?
Especially if a Virtual Machine is connected to the Internet it is at risk just as much as a Physical Machine so all relevant security measures should be implemented!