Minoan composite bowman max range: 12
Catapult (not Hcat) max range: 14
so dont gimme any of the range bull, any cat civ with engineering creams compys.
1 hittite catapult for every 4 compys (gold wise)...I like my chances on that one. Throw in a few horse archers (which totally smother composite bowmen) and well...my army wins.
Composite bowmen in iron serve a few purposes. First of all, they have wide range and are cheap so you could station them near woodcutters (for minoan, phoenician shouldnt waste the gold nor any other civ with compys and also has CA). This protects against raids some of the time. As minoan I may do this, because ballistas near my woodcutters to guard against raids is silly.
Composite bowmen can be used as an auxiliary unit. For example after rolling in catapults, to catch cavalry and stuff like that (if you are too lazy to use ballistas) you can always go with some compys, just be sure to keep them BEHIND the catapults.
I would probably never go all composite against ANY civ in iron age. This is stupid, and pointless. EVERY SINGLE CIV has the solution to iron age composite bowmen, whether it be scythes, catapults, or HA.
I may use compys just for fun againt a weakened opponant I suppose. Maybe leave a few near a gold pile to guard it if I dont feel like wasting my stone.