PLEASE PRAY FOR THE REPOSE of Jungle Guide Patrick Eibel’s wife Marie (“Pippa,”) who passed away from a heart attack on January 14, 2023, at the age of 52. Pippa had been ill for some time, culminating in a stroke in September 2022, for which she was undergoing rehabilitation. Pat and Pippa have a 12-year old son, Thomas.
I’d known Pippa for 30 years, and I was the best man at their wedding. She was an extremely intelligent, engaging, fun, and classy lady with an excellent sense of humor. She was a go-getter, and a respected and successful Certified Public Accountant.
Pippa was an avid and skilled gamer in my 1e AD&D campaign in the 1990s. Also at that time, during the 2e days of 40K, she had an extensive Eldar army that she had painted exquisitely.
The photos I have don’t do her army justice. All of the figures were pewter and painted in metallic colors: purple or blue for Guardians, Rangers, and Wraithguard. The Aspect Warriors were done in “seasonal themes”: the Dark Reapers and Howling Banshees were blue, silver, and white for winter; the Striking Scorpions and Swooping Hawks were copper and orange for fall, etc. Each had several layers, and were really top-notch. I wish I had better images to post.
Pippa was very competitive, and a great tactician. She and our friend Reece, also an Eldar player, would often team up against me (with my Fighting Tigers) and Pat (with his Space Wolves or Squats).
Pippa and Reece won every game, usually in very easy fashion. Pat and I nicknamed them “The Giggle Twins,” because of how much (good-natured) enjoyment they took in mopping the floor with our poor guys. No matter what and how hard we tried, we couldn’t defeat them.
Pippa never cottoned to Third Edition 40K, or any of the iterations thereafter, so she stopped playing, and Pat took over her army. I lent the collection its name–“The Warhost Lotus Storm of Impossible Contemplation”–and it became part of the lore of the Fighting Tigers. Under the old version of this site, the army appeared in several battle reports, and we featured it as an “Army of the Jungle.” Maybe we’ll bring it back someday, in tribute to her.
Pippa is survived by her mother and father, and a younger sister, Leah. They and Pat (and his family) held a celebration of life for her on January 28. Pippa was an amazing and well-accomplished woman, a loving wife, and an excellent mother. She leaves behind many friends who will miss her dearly, and my wife and I are among them.
Kenton Kilgore writes killer SF/F for young adults and adults who are still young. The Fighting Tigers of Veda appear in his latest novel, Stray Cats, which you can find here.
Check him out on kentonkilgore.com, and follow Kenton on Facebook for frequent posts on sci-fi, fantasy, and other speculative fiction. You can also catch him on Instagram, and find his books in softcover and for Kindle on Amazon.