Combat is supposed to be messy and unpredictable, shitty and dangerous, and that is one thing that JA2 1.13 is doing brilliantly. You should never have assurances that your plans will work, the game should never reward putting yourself into super risky positions where if you don't succeed it's all over. Instead the game is telling you repeatedly, don't put yourself into such positions, or rely on save scumming, in which case, as we already said, everything works (as long as you reload when it doesn't).

And what's with the fucking infatuation with athletics. Athletics is pretty good, especially for a minor skill. It's only the best skill in the game if you constantly use it offensively and then reload every time it gets you into trouble. You should really play a game on ironman, where your actions have actual consequences, and get a more realistic picture, before having more opinions about the things that you, well, don't know enough about to have an opinion that matters

As for all the knife things, well, knifes serve pretty well in the same role they have in reality, a weapon of really last choice, if you find yourself grappled or something. That is all they are. Try rushing someone with a rifle while wielding a knife in reality, and you'll quickly get the lesson that humanity has known for tens of thousands of years - range/reach beats all. Even without shooting, you'll get your face smashed in before you get to stab them.