Are Chu Ko Nu worth it?

Are the chinese chu ko nu and qiang pikemen worth using past age 2? the old han card which made them 100% stronger has been reduced to 50%, and comparing them to the arquebusier and changdao, the arquebusier are pretty similar now to the CKN, and the changdao have more base damage than the qiang which makes them better against anything but cavalry. Before the only reason you would use arquebusier/changdao in age 4-5 was that they cost gold instead of wood, but now i think going full food/gold it's better since you can also spam flamethrower and cavalry easily