IF I take a unit of 3 sallies and want to take only 2 extra handlers is that legal? Or does it have to be 1-for-all or nothing?
Yeah you can do that, they don't all need extra handlers. IMO not really worth it though, sure it means you will have more of a hcance of surviving a misfire but that is the risk you take with..... I guess I can call them warmachines.
Are the handlers generally used by all the salamanders? For example, you take two sallies with three handlers each. One of the sallies decides to eat his 3 handlers. Do some of the 3 handlers left that were "crew" for the other sallie move over to be able to "fire" the uncrewed salamander? I guess it would probably make more sense to pool the handlers together, and only do a monster reaction test after all handlers have been eaten/slain. Otherwise I guess you wouldn't have a coherent unit.
Well when you think about it, how the hell is one skink going to control 3 salamanders if he is the only one left?? I think it is a case where making the rules a bit simpler and less realistic saves a lot of hassle though. "if all the skink handlers are slain, then the remaining salamanders must take a leadership test" Page 56. Seems pretty clear from that line (ie. salamanders being plural) that yes, one lone handler can control 3 salamanders so no test is required until they are all dead not just the ones for a specific salamander/razordon.
Statistically, if you fire every turn, you should misfire every second turn. This means that even if you shoot with your sallies every turn of the game, you should only kill 6 handlers. As you probably won't be able to shoot with them for all 6 turns (maybe 3 normally), this number becomes even less. Based on this, you can say that extra handlers usually doesn't pay off. However, it can also be very handy since most opponents tend to target the sallies with shooting and especially magic. It all depends on how much you are willing to gamle. If you want to have some extra insurance, go for extra handlers if you have the points.
only when there are no handlers left to guide the salamander/ razodon, does it roll on the monster reaction table
I was just playing a game yesterday against a friend of mine where both of my shots from Razordons managed to misfire together, and they both proceded to roll a 5 and a 6 to see how many skinks were gobbled up. I had, by a stroke of luck, purchased one extra skink handler and the unit was saved! My thought is, if you have 5-10 points sitting around doing nothing, might as well throw it into another handler. Might not make a difference all that often, but when it does it'll make a big one.