Two Pontos questions.

[WinsingtonIII]

I am not aware of the exact recruitment zones, but aren't the chalkaspides simply the Pontic equivalent of kleruch phalangites? They are a bit better equipped and have slightly lower morale, but they would be recruited from the same base population.

No, Chalkaspides are the equivalent of Agryaspides, they are meant to be an elite phalanx. However, they have less morale and lower stats in general than any of the other elite phalanxes. In fact their stats are more comparable to the Pezhetairoi than to Agryaspides, although they are still better than Pezhetairoi. They are also significantly better than Klerouchoi Phalangitai in both attack, defense, and morale. Chalkaspides are a bit unique as elite phalanxes in that they are more of a part-time levy than anything else (albeit a well-trained, well-equipped, motivated, and effective one). The soldiers expect to serve in the summer and be released in time for the harvest. So, in that respect they do share some parallels to the Klerouchoi Phalangitai I guess, in that the Klerouchoi Phalangitai expect land grants in return for service. But the situation is a bit different, the Chalkaspides don't get land grants as far as I can tell, they simply expect to go back to their farms in the fall.

Pontos does have access to Klerouchoi Phalangitai, I'm not sure of the exact AOR, but I do know that they are a regional unit for Pontos, not a factional unit. However, since you do not have access to Pezhetairoi, you may have to rely on them as your medium phalanx. Unless, of course, you decide to make your entire phalanx line be Chalkaspides, but considering they are a technically an elite unit I don't know how historically accurate that would be.