Due to high mechanical and thermal loads, work rolls are exposed to high wear during the forming process of plates in hot strip mills. Because of the large volume fraction of hard eutectic carbides, high chromium iron and steel alloys are used as shell material for work rolls. This thesis investigates the effect of the alloying elements molybdenum, vanadium and carbon on the microstructure and material properties of a high chromium steel alloy, with the aim of increasing wear and temper resistance. Light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis were used to characterize the material structure in detail, demonstrating the occurrence of the eutectic carbide types M7C3, M2C and M6C. Furthermore, the morphology of the secondary carbides precipitated in the matrix was found to be dependent on the alloy composition. A nanoindenter was used to measure the hardness of the eutectic M7C3 carbides and the matrix. Varying the alloying elements also showed an effect on the macrohardness of the heat treated samples. Increasing the Mo content caused a higher matrix hardness as well as a rising content of eutectic Mo carbides, which in turn increased the macrohardness. A higher V content showed no noticeable effect, but with an increasing C content a rising macro hardness could be observed. This was attributed to the higher matrix hardness and total carbide content. Further investigations showed the influence of the manufacturing process of rolls on microstructure and mechanical properties. Roll samples were found to have increased hardness compared to laboratory produced samples.