I used to be in the Navy as a FC (Fire Control-man) and the system that we have now is quite good. 3-4 ranging shots and I can adjust for range and drift while using the "E" Sea mode. I can even get ships down from 22k. The technique is simple.
1. Engage Sea Mode, by pressing .
2. Zoom in to max magnification.
3. Slew gun to target.
4. Place mouse pointer over a feature of the target (mast, bridge, funnel, ect.).
5. Elevate guns to estimated range.
6. Keep pointer over target, by slewing gun to compensate for target drift,and fire.
7. While slewing to keep pointer over selected target, watch for the fall of your shot. The splash is where you need to move your mouse pointer.
8. Adjust for relative drift of your shot, by slewing the guns to make the mouse pointer rest over the target feature you originally picked.
9. Fire again. Now comes the ranging phase. Watch where the splash happens, if in front of the target add 1-2000 to the range, if the splash is behind decrease range.
The trick here is the transition. When the last shot was say short, and this one splashed behind the target, you have bracketed the target. It is now a mater of fine tuning the range. Make adjustments at 500, 200, 100, and finally 50. It is highly unlikely that you will be on exactly parallel courses, so some fiddling with the range when your shots start to drift is going to happen. Just keep the amount of range drift in mind with each shot, and every shot will hit home.
This procedure is how guns have been laid since the age of sail. It works pretty good. If other turrets are manned the range can be quickly deduced by several means but only with each gunner taking turns firing so that no one gets confused by the others fall of shot, and constant communication as to the range each is firing at.
"A Turret 15.6k, short."
"B Turret 16.9k, short."
"C Turret 18.1k, LONG!"
There you go, all three of you have just narrowed down the range to a band 1.2k wide. If you were alone it would have taken you three shots to figure out that range band.
