Hello weebeasty
If it was me if you haven't at this point,I would for sure open it up and have a look inside.Just from what you have said so far and the one's who have said it's a problem with the board is where I would place my bet.If you can run both tracks backwards that tells me all the motor wires are connected,and it would be strange if an obstruction would let the track run in reverse but not forward without being able to hear something going on.It is possible a wire is loose in the transmitter on the part of the joy stick that controls the forward movement of the tank.It only takes a few minutes to pull 4 screws on the back of the transmitter and open it up and have a look.Move the stick and make sure the little contactor is touching where it is suppose to.The transmitter and receiver is what controls the direction,that is where the problem would be---Thats my guess for what it's worth. BIGMIG