> Rather than doing a lot more trial and error, I was hoping someone here
> could quickly tell me what values I need or what documentation to look
> at so amanda does a full backup every night.

use comp-lev0 as your dump type.

define dumptype comp-lev0 {
    global
    comment "very important partitions on fast machines"
    compress client best
    priority high
    dumpcycle 0
}

thanks