I've never used Royal Oak briquets. I use plain old Kingsford so your mileage may vary. A 2x2 snake should get you where you want to be unless you're at altitude. About 11 or 12 lit coals to start. After I let the coals get going a little bit, my starting point is about a 1/4" open vent on the bottom and top vent wide open, then adjust as necessary. Honestly though, I don't care all that much. 215, 225, 250, up to about 275 - it's not a whole lot different to me. I just go with the flow once the cooker settles in.
Small adjustments on the vents when needed. If your grill is pretty sealed up and you're running a nicely constructed 2x2, you're not going to get crazy temperature spikes, so you don't have to worry too much about way overshooting your target temp.
Monitor the temp at the grate for better accuracy. A regular oven thermometer works great sitting on the grates if you don't have something fancy.
I don't like smoked chicken, so I have no thoughts there.
Have fun.