agree; this would also make bandits more interesting.

Throwing knives by nature have a short range. To extend the range beyond three would not be realistic.

then there's no point in having them dude.  if you can just run up and attack the enemy for more damage why would you throw the knives?  the point is that you're supposed to get one throw with them before having to enter melee.

Because you can't? Let's say we have a scenario where both of you have throwing knives. Each of you starts 5 squares away from each other. If you get the first turn you can rush up and throw your knives. If instead you chose to wait for him to move up 2, so you could move 2 and get a melee attack in, your opponent would throw those knives instead.

Their implimentation was supposed to reduce the opportunities you have to exploit the AI's stupidity.

Their range is fine, they just need to scale better so they dont become useless vs someone wearing even 1 piece of leather armor.

They are not a replacement for bandit archers. Both should exist.

I plan to add throwing axes. They will have 4 range. I also want to have a few types of throwing knives. Maybe even some orbs for mages to throw. And flashbombs for rogues. 

They are designed, it would seem, to give you an attack when you are after an enemy, but can't get close enough for an attack. It usually takes 2-3 moves for units to get to the battle. Thrown weapons allow you to attack on the way there. I am actually making a long list of abilities that make use of these turns to use abilities to that will buff the attack when your do get close enough. 

Ex: Rogues can poison their blade with better poison or drugs. Barbarians can go into a rage, getting +6 Initiative for 2 rounds, making them fast enough to hit the enemy first.