Microstructural evolution with superheating was studied in chromium carbide-nickel coatings deposited by laser cladding. At lower superheating, selective growth of aOE (c) 0001 > direction from the high density of Cr7C3 grains nucleated resulted in a columnar structure with (0001) texture. Increased superheating lead to the loss of columnar structure as well as the (0001) texture. The hexagonal Cr7C3 showed an unusual isotropic nanoindentation hardness evidently correlated with its low c/a ratio. However, the rod-like morphology of the carbide dendrites resulted in significant anisotropy in the hardness of the composite.