I extracted all the suggestions from within this post and tried organizing them in a coherent list. After doing that I was able to get audio working. Maybe this ordered list can be done better and made into a sticky to help other noobies like me.
Ultimately what made it work was modifying the file order in my onboot.lst file:
alsa-config.tcz
alsa.tcz
alsamixergui.tczalsa-modules-4.14.10-tinycore64.tcz
1. Install alsa-config.tcz
2. Install alsa.tcz -- check that Alsa service has started; ControlPanel > Services > Alsa = green
3. Install alsamixergui.tcz (optional) == check alsamixer controls making sure none are Muted
4. Set the volume control on the front of the speaker about 1/3 of the way up -
5. Run: alsamixer
6. tce-load -i alsa-config alsa pulseaudio
7. amixer set "Master" 80 unmute
8. Run: alsactl init- This produced a slight thump as the card was found and initialized. That command also unmuted the speakers and set the mixer volumes at sane levels.
9. Then to check the correct Card and Chip has been detected, or select it if not " F6 "
10. then check alsamixer controls making sure none are Muted
11. Run: speaker-test [-Ddefault:1] -c2 -t wav -l1 - If all went well, you should hear the phrases "Front Left" and "Front Right" from your left and right speakers respectively.
12. Run: sudo alsactl store
13. Run: echo alsactl restore >> /opt/bootlocal.sh
14. Run: echo usr/local/etc/alsa/asound.state >> /opt/.filetool.lst.
15. Run a backup to save your setup.