Strategies for Plotting Targets (No Map Contacts)

[Dignan]

In my never ending quest to find the right balance of realism and playability. I pose this question to everyone who plays without map contacts enabled.

What are your strategies/methods for plotting an initial contact to obtain a rough course?

I'm referring to is the initial contact. Your hydrophone guy reports a hydro contact or watch just called out a ship on the horizon. What do you do to start building a plot? 4 bearings method? Do you just head towards the target until you can use the stadimeter? Hydrophone to guesstimate a range and course? Do you just wing it?

I must confess that lately I've been using the ctrl-V button to have my WO call out the nearest contact (give a range and bearing). I know this is sort of cheating. Then I plot those on my map to build a course and speed.

Is there a range of error in using the "nearest contact" report function? I've noticed it always gives the estimated range in rounded off numbers so it must be approximate.

So to summarize, my two questions are:

1. What are your strategies/methods for plotting an initial contact to obtain a rough course?

2. Is the "nearest contact" report (in the game) a realistic simulation of how a real captain would have determined initial course and range of an unknown target?

Thanks.