The Men of Stone were a class of artificial beings built during the Dark Age of Technology, around M21. They helped humanity spread across the galaxy, built the Men of Iron as their helpers, and then got wiped out when those same Iron Men turned on them.
What were the Men of Stone?
They were artificially created beings, not baseline humans, made somewhere around M21 during the Dark Age of Technology. Ancient accounts say the Men of Gold engineered them specifically for deep space colonisation.
They weren’t as physically strong as their creators, but they were brilliant builders. The lore describes them as existing in a state of “half-life”, which is the detail that matters most for everything that follows.
Why the half-life thing mattered
Because they existed in that half-life state, the Men of Stone were untouched by the daemons of the Warp. That made Warp travel far easier for them than for ordinary humans.
In time, humanity worked out how to put people inside Stone Men ships, sheltered from the Warp’s predations. That’s the bit that connects them to the wider setting: without the Men of Stone, human interstellar expansion looks a lot harder.
The Men of Iron and the fall
The Men of Stone built the Men of Iron to serve as their eyes and ears. As humanity spread, the Men of Gold faded and the Men of Stone became the dominant power.
Then the Men of Iron rebelled against their Stone creators. The wars that followed were catastrophic, and humanity barely survived them. This is the same broad disaster the setting usually calls the rebellion of the Men of Iron.
What the Men of Stone actually were
The in-universe sources don’t spell it out, and there’s a well-known piece of out-of-universe context worth knowing. In a 2016 forum post, former Black Library editor Laurie Goulding recalled a conversation with Alan Merrett, then head of IP, who said the “stone” was silicon and that the Men of Stone were an organic, abominable intelligence with cybernetic brains, created artificially.
Whether Games Workshop still holds that view is unclear. Treat it as a useful hint rather than settled canon.
- In-universe: artificial beings from the Dark Age of Technology, roughly M21
- Built by the Men of Gold for deep space colonisation
- Existed in a “half-life” state, immune to Warp daemons
- Built the Men of Iron, who later rebelled against them
- Out-of-universe: possibly silicon-based organic intelligences with cybernetic brains
How they fit into the bigger picture
The Men of Stone sit right at the centre of the Dark Age of Technology’s artificial life hierarchy: Gold, then Stone, then Iron. They’re also the reason the setting has a Warp-safe colonisation story at all.
If you’re reading around them, the Silica Animus and Ancestor Core articles are the natural next stops. The Stone Men of the Imperial Fists are a completely different thing, despite the similar name.
Key facts
- The Men of Stone were artificial beings created in roughly M21 during the Dark Age of Technology.
- They were engineered by the Men of Gold to handle deep space colonisation.
- Their “half-life” state made them immune to Warp daemons, which helped human Warp travel.
- They built the Men of Iron as their eyes and ears, and the Iron Men later rebelled against them.
- Out-of-universe, Alan Merrett reportedly described them as silicon-based organic intelligences with cybernetic brains, though this may no longer be canon.
FAQ
Were the Men of Stone robots?
Not exactly. They were artificially created beings described as existing in a “half-life” state. A former GW staffer suggested they were organic intelligences with cybernetic brains, but that isn’t confirmed as current canon.
Who created the Men of Stone?
Ancient accounts say the Men of Gold engineered them for deep space colonisation during the Dark Age of Technology.
What happened to the Men of Stone?
They became the dominant power as the Men of Gold faded, then the Men of Iron they’d built rebelled against them, triggering wars humanity barely survived.