Ok I have a question about these units. The Pontikoi Thorakitai and Srakir Martikner (Armenian Medium Infantry)

I have always found these units to be a bit disappointing. They are supposed to be one of the higher tier units for pontus and hayasdan but they seem to function like very low tier units

They have poor lethality and killing rate despite being swordsmen (I thought swordsmen were supposed to kill quicker than spearmen which is the only reason i trained them in the first place). In fact Galatian shortswordsmen seem to kill at the same rate. They have high casualties per battle, cannot stop cavalry very well and make very poor flank guards. After a few disappointing trials I ended up using normal Thureophoroi as flank guards instead and cappadocian hillmen as flankers. They have very disappointing morale aswell.

The only good thing about them is they seem to take less casualties from missiles.

Am I using them wrong or is it supposed to be like that??