Hivetyrant,
I don't know alot about phpbb stuff but my husband recommends the community forums at
http://www.phpbb.com/phpBB/ , which I see philip has also linked for you. [img]smile.gif[/img]
I think it's a very powerful software but also, as you noted, very big and cumbersome if you aren't familiar with all it's ins and outs.
Hope you get your problem fixed!