Gaming figures are perhaps where figure painting began, with teaching youngsters about battle tactics as far back as Egyptian times, and certainly right through until the nineteenth century, and perhaps games like chess being a poor man's representations of richer folks massed armies, they are perhaps where the art of painting models of all kinds began.

Although not displayed as armies in the competition, there were a few "Kill Teams" and Command Groups in evidence, but the majority were either single figures or paired pieces. 

Still, you have to realise the skill to paint such small areas of  models with such precision, and looking at the pictures here, it's easy to forget that a lot of them are only 28mm in total height.