Shadowing Practice: Total War: Warhammer - Beginner's Guide 01: Rock Paper Scissors - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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Hey everybody, it's PartyElite with the beginner's guide to Total War Warhammer.
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The Total War games have been, for as long as my memory serves, a camouflaged rock-paper-scissors game when it comes to battles.
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While that might sound simple and even dumbed down, it actually gets to be quite complex when you get into the nitty gritty.
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While rock-paper-scissors implies hard counters, this isn't necessarily the case because of other factors that come into play.
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Flanking, morale, rank, etc. For this video, let's ignore unit types that are unique to the Warhammer universe, giants, trolls and other monsters and beasts,
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they don't quite fall into this rock-paper-scissors world and I'll give them a closer look in a later video.
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We will, however, start with another outlier, Sword and Axe Infantry.
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They don't fit a rock-paper-scissors role, but act more as a sort of glue to hold everything else together.
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They come in many formats, heavy, light, sword, axe, etc. They are, as a whole, average against other unit types.
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They have no specific strengths when it comes to battle, and having an infantry-heavy army keeps you balanced, but it can result in issues if you keep getting charged down by cavalry,
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or while being pelted by arrows.
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Sword and axe infantry are great for holding enemy units in place for a nice flanking maneuver as well.
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Now consider the spearmen.
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They've got a greater reach with their weapons, and if you've seen, say, Braveheart or any war movie that reenacts spearmen vs cavalry, you'll know exactly how this tends to go down.
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Spearmen destroy cavalry, especially if charged into head-on.
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However, since they're typically lightly armored, they are easily put down by archers, so if you find yourself facing a bunch of spearmen, pepper them with arrows, hold them with infantry, and flank them with cavalry.
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Job well done.
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Onwards to cavalry.
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As we discussed literally moments earlier, they are weak against spears and should never be used to charge spears head on.
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Don't do it.
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The strength of cavalry lies in their charges, and especially when targeting ranged units, archers, crossbowmen, and the like.
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With a superior speed, cavalry can disperse and chase down these lightly armored, fast-on-their-feet units and wreck their day.
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This also works to disperse artillery unit operators, effectively destroying artillery pieces.
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Use cavalry to keep enemy ranged units busy running around.
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Cavalry charges are especially powerful when they come in from the flanks, and this is the one case where you can use cavalry against spearmen.
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It's risky, but the reward can be worth the loss of lives.
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Flanking spearmen can cause them to break, and when morale is low, so is the quality of fighting.
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And when morale is really low, there is no fighting. And finally, ranged units.
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Artillery are obviously morale damaging and great against anything they can hit, but as we learned earlier, archers and the like are best against lightly armored units like spearmen.
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They can thin numbers of any unit type well before they arrive at your front lines, but they need to be very wary of enemy cavalry.
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You can force them to engage in melee, which may be a worthwhile sacrifice, especially if they're out of ammunition, but that's basically a death sentence.
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Sometimes, though, it can help you set up a flanking maneuver for the greater good of your empire.
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As I mentioned, this rock-paper-scissors model is just a foundation, and there are plenty of nuances that modify how things actually play out.
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Outside other mechanics like morale, rank, positioning, etc., there are further details like unit variants.
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Shock cavalry and regular cavalry should be used differently, for example.
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But I'll go over all these finer details in a later video.
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So at the core, while this overarching system sounds simple, it actually gets very in-depth and intricate very fast.
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Where it's important to keep this hierarchy in mind is in making macro-scale decisions.
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Much relies on making snap decisions after understanding the situation in the battle at the moment, and that's what being a great general is about.
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For more tips and tricks, subscribe to this channel, and if there's something you'd like to see covered, let me know in the comments below.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “Total War: Warhammer - Beginner's Guide 01: Rock Paper Scissors”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: cavalry, unit, spearmen, scissors, morale. This video has 40 sentences and 725 words to shadow. The speech runs for 3:42. The speaker talks fast, about 196 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. Only 79% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| cavalry noun | /ˈkæ.vəl.ɹi/ | An individual unit of this arm of service. |
| spearman noun | One who uses a spear; a soldier or warrior who fights with a spear; a person who hunts with a spear. | |
| flank noun | /ˈflæŋk/ | The lateral flesh between the last rib and the hip. |
| scissors noun | /ˈsɪzəz/ | A tool used for cutting thin material, consisting of two crossing blades attached at a pivot point in such a way that the blades slide across each other when… |
| morale noun | /məˈɹɑːl/ | The mental and emotional state of a person or group, especially their level of confidence, enthusiasm, and loyalty with regard to a function or task. |
| infantry noun | /ˈɪnfəntɹi/ | Soldiers who fight on foot (on land), as opposed to cavalry and other mounted units, regardless of external transport (e.g. airborne). |
| archer noun | /ˈɑɹ.t͡ʃɚ/ | One who shoots an arrow from a bow or a bolt from a crossbow. |
| lightly adverb | /ˈlaɪtli/ | In a light manner. |
| artillery noun | /ɑɹˈtɪləɹi/ | Large projectile weapons, in modern usage usually large guns, but also rocket artillery. |
| armor noun | /ˈɑːɹ.mɚ/ | A protective layer over a body, vehicle, or other object intended to deflect or diffuse damaging forces. |
| disperse verb | /dɪˈspɝs/ | To scatter in different directions. |
| maneuver noun | /məˈnuvɚ/ | The planned movement of troops, vehicles etc.; a strategic repositioning; (later also) a large training field-exercise of fighting units. |
| spear noun | /spɪə̯(ɹ)/ | A long stick with a sharp tip used as a weapon for throwing or thrusting, or anything used to make a thrusting motion. |
| arrow noun | /ˈæɹəʊ/ | A projectile consisting of a shaft, a point and a tail with stabilizing fins that is shot from a bow. |
| camouflage noun | /ˈkæ.məˌflɑːʒ/ | A disguise or covering up. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| go down verb | To descend; to move from a higher place to a lower one. | |
| go over verb | To look at carefully; to scrutinize; to analyze. | |
| play out verb | To play (a game etc.) to its conclusion. | |
| put down verb | To insult, belittle, or demean. | |
| run around verb | To be very busy doing many different things. | |
| set up verb | /ˌsɛt ˈʌp/ | To make ready for use. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | have been · you've seen |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | being pelted · are easily put |
| Advice with “should” should + verb — saying what is a good idea | should never be · should be |
| Possibility with “might / may” might/may + verb — something that is possible but not certain | might sound · may be |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 12 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, I'll, they're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: camouflage /ˈkæ.məˌflɑːʒ/, ammunition /ˌæmjuˈnɪʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: artillery /ɑɹˈtɪləɹi/, macroeconomics /ˌmæk.ɹoʊˌiː.kəˈnɒ.mɪks/, overarching /ˌoʊvəɹˈɑɹt͡ʃɪŋ/, hierarchy /ˈhaɪ.ə.ɹɑː(ɹ).ki/, ammunition /ˌæmjuˈnɪʃən/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like cavalry, spearman, flank.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.