Zerg Strategy Part I

Hello! First, I feel a manual on zerg combat would be inadequate if not first prepared with an introduction on starcraft theory. Theory in starcraft is often misunderstood or misapplied and it is only through a proper grounding in theory one can hope to acheive success on the battlefield. Too many aspiring generals have failed because of a lack of preparation.

Before we begin, I cannot stress the importance of the following :
Physical and Mental Fitness. If you wish to be great at anything in life but certainly in starcraft, you must begin by taking care of your body and your mind. This means exercising several times a day, living an active lifestyle and reading heavily. It also means a job; a job doesn't have to mean you work for someone. There are alot of legitimate ways to make enough money to live doing basically anything you want from home but failing that, it's fairly easy to get a good job. Just go to university and get out there. For mental fitness avoiding television in any dose larger than 15 minutes and reading several times daily (speed reading especially, but make sure to mix up the material you read). The important thing is to focus your time, have a to-do list, make sure you're not sitting around doing nothing. Improve yourself! Why not?

Anyway... theory.

One principle of warfare that is evidant in starcraft theory is the supremacy of large numbers. It is a simple concept; if you take 10 marines and fight another 10 marines, assuming no micro (or equal micro levels) there will probably be a victor of 2-4 marines. If you take 10 marines and fight 1 marine 10 times, you may lose 1 or 2 marines, if any at all. This means if you engage a very small force with a very large force you will make a good 'trade' in terms of units lost. It is important to look at everythig in starcraft as a trade. When you rush, you trade economy, that is eventual units, for military threat, that is immediate units. When you tech, you trade higher units for the capability to make even higher units or an improved capability to current units. And you trade lings for drones... there is a direct trade there. The more drones early, the more lings later, the fewer drones early, the fewer lings later. Your economy growth and 'mineral soldiers' are basically on an inverse ratio. It is important to seperate mineral soliders, vespean soldiers and mixed soldiers because it will allow for a better analysis of expansion positions.

Can you calculate what zerg force is needed to beat 17 +1 speed zealots 9 minutes into the game? It is my belief that we can, through proper application of theory.