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I made a list up the other day for a 1850 Tau vs Guard game, and I was looking for some feedback to strengthen it - the list played decently, and it was fun although victory was not to be had (my friend had 1 firewarrior left on a rooftop objective, and argued that by "going to ground" I would have to have LOS on the model which was prone on its side.. and if it was standing, as I think it should have been, he'd be dead).

[175] CS - 1xPF, 4xPlas
Chimera w/ hull flamer, pintel-mounted storm bolter

[155] Vet Squad 1 - 3x melta
Chimera w/ hull flame

[155] Vet Squad 2 - 3x melta
Chimera w/ hull flame

[170] Vet Squad 3 - PF, 3x melta
Chimera w/ hull flame

[150] Scout Sentinel Squadron
3x Scout Sentinels - AC, Hunter Seeker

[120] Armored Sentinel Squadron
2x Armored Sentinel - AC

[370] Leman Russ Squadron
2x LRMB - LC, HB sponsors

[340] Leman Russ Squadron
2xLRMB - HB, HB sponsors

[190] Manticore - camo netting

Total: 1825

I realize I'm about 25 points under, I missed that in our game - I'd consider dropping the vet PF for giving all the Chimeras hunter seekers; or giving the squads all PWs, dropping the PF, and giving a plas pistol for the CS.
It feels like the list is troop light; having some outflankanking penal troops instead of Armored Sentinels might also be a worthy addition. Advice or list changes would be welcomed, thanks for your time,

[160]
Company Command Squad
Power Fist
2Meltaguns, 2Flamers
Chimera: Hull Heavy Flamer, Hunter Killer Missile
[180]
Veterans: 3Plasma Guns
Chimera: Hull Heavy Bolter, Hunter Killer Missile
[165]
Veterans: 3Meltaguns
Chimera: Hull Heavy Flamer, Hunter Killer Missile
[165]
Veterans: 3Meltaguns
Chimera: Hull Heavy Flamer, Hunter Killer Missile
[150]
3xScout Sentinel: Auocannon, Hunter Killer Missile
[120]
2xArmoured Sentinel: Autocannon
[320]
2xLeman Russ: Hull Lascannon
[300]
2xLeman Russ: Hull Heavy Bolter
[190]
Manticore: Hull Heavy Bolter, Camo Netting

1750pts

Leaves you 100pts to work with or put the sponsons back on your tanks and have less.
If you are set on mech, a penal legion squad may be a decent random thing to throw in, but seems out of place. I'm not sure what I would do. Although, if you owned a valkyrie....
You have the vehicle armour side covered, Bodies is waht you lack, but an infantry blob would cost you dropping more stuff from the list.

If you're using hunter killer missiles with guard, you might as well give a shot at
everyone carrying them at least once and fire them off quickly. HKs are a great idea, but I
don't see them often. usually people are maxing out on bodies or tank hulls before taking them.
a local blood angel player uses a lot of them and they can really hurt. Especially when you havea lot of them fired on turn 1 or 2. I like the idea of finding something to shoot them at as soon as possibly to increase my chance of them killing something.

I tried to work your list without going away from what you appear to own for models.
Kudos on using so many sentinels. Mine barely ever make it into my lists.

I dropped the sponson weapons of the russes in favour of freeing up points and making them more efficient on the move. Depending on who you face and terrain you may be obliged to keep the lumbering behemoths moving. I personally prefer my leman russes without sponsons so I don't waste shots on the move and don't feel as bad about using them to move and block or move to get a better shot. The russ variants i do put sponsons on are the demolisher and executioner. Even when I field the executioner, I often don't take sponsons. I play in a quite varied pool of players and armies.

As far as I know, going to ground is not supposed to change the height of a model.
Laying them on thier side, as far as I know, is only a way to keep track of them
being pinned or going to ground. I use tokens (coins, glass marker stones or the gw set)
to mark units pinned or gone to ground. No use chipping my paint jobs if I don't need to.

My current 1850:
Company Command Squad
Company Commander: Power Weapon
4Veterans: 2Meltaguns, 2Flamers
Astropath
Chimera

5Storm Troopers: Plasma Pistol, 2Meltaguns

Veterans: 3Plasma Guns
Chimera: Hull Heavy Bolter

Veterans: 3Plasma Guns
Chimera: Hull Heavy Bolter

Veterans: 2Meltaguns, Flamer, Shotguns
Chimera: Hull Heavy Flamer

Veterans: 2Meltaguns, Flamer, Shotguns
Chimera: Hull Heavy Flamer

Veterans: 2Meltaguns, Flamer, Shotguns
Chimera: Hull Heavy Flamer

Vendetta

Vendetta

Leman Russ: Hull Heavy Bolter

Leman Russ Demolisher: Plasma Cannons, Heavy Flamer

Manticore: Hull Heavy Bolter

Needs more Vets IMO. At 1850 pts you should be running at least 4 squads

a little perspective on cheap infantry
that might still do something

220pts

PCS
Power Weapon
3Grenade Launchers, Flamer

Commissar: Power Weapon
Infantry Squad: Meltabomb, Flamer
Infantry Squad: Meltabomb, Flamer

I made a mistake on the CS, should be 180 pts with the PF.

Thanks NTFH for clearing up the gone to ground rule, the main rules say its just for indication and that's what I figured, but time was an issue and at best it was a stalemate - as long as everyone had fun, that's the key.

So for future lists, if more troops are needed (and they always are), go the blob route with 2 squads and PCS; PCS with 4 flamer, and squads with just straight PWs/GLs (I've read on dakka that flamers are a poor blob choice as you'll kill your enemies in charge range, and then get railed in the enemies turn). An alternative could be a static platoon with GL and LC/AC for some long range support and camping. Which would be preferred for this list, I'm learning towards the static choice.

Penal troops were a short work around for getting in more troops, also it'd let me pressure enemy objectives along with the sentinels if required and keep with the mobile theme of the army. The static platoon is more reliable though.

I'm not a fan of mixing meltas and flamers; it usually takes at least 3 of the same special weapon for the squad to do something, and do it efficiently. I do want more plas guns, the plasma CS was super effective and the farther range over meltas is always appreciated.

The scout sentinels did admirably and the hunter seekers were killer, letting me take out a hammer heads turret and stun the beast for long enough to let my tanks keep rolling up, blanketing the remaining tau troops with pie plates. That being said, the armored sentinels as usual did not kill anywhere near their worth and didn't even get fired at - If more troops are needed I'd cut these in a heartbeat. Hunter seekers on the chims wouldn't be taken and that should give enough pts for a footslogger platoon.

I wish I had valks or vendettas; as it is I have a strong armor focus and am looking to get another chim or two and that way I could make a fully mech list with min. 4 vet squads in chimeras. Not sure if I should get another manticore, I'll see how my one works out for now. Unfortunately all my tanks have the sponsors on them; although I didn't use them once against the tau, they do have their uses and saves me a hws or two.

So until I get another chimera, static platoon, blob, or penal squads?