I’ll see if maybe I’ve just misconstrued the over-complexity for my needs.

It depends how you are defining "over-complexity". FreeCAD is a very capable CAD application, so, by extension, it has a vast array of features which means that a single task could potentially be tackled multiple ways. That being said, it is not a difficult application to use, imo. The UI feels well designed, and it's responsive. Like many things, the level of ease of use, and productivity when using it depends a lot on one's familiarity with the application.

Learn ondsel (which is basically a freecad fork) first and then transfer to FreeCAD later. It's easier to learn at first but for true woodworking FreeCAD is better - but only after you know the basics.

Sadly neither of them is remotely efficient at all when it comes to woodworking. But if you don't care for the time it takes too much it is something to work with.