I'd get the game you like more.....these machines on route take more of a beating than they will in home use setting. Games will develop issues now and then...neither is immune. I like AFM more...so I'd go with that one

Do more games break in DC metro? I never knew that.

Every machine breaks. Also, no matter what game you buy, it can end up being a maintenance nightmare. Get the game you want. Then when something breaks, fix it.

I've had both of the originals in my house for years. The remakes are mechanically identical, so I think my experience with them might be helpful. In my home environment, my MM has required more tweaking than the AFM, only due to the trolls. Occasionally I've had to tweak the troll switches to optimize sensitivity and sometimes tighten the plastic troll head that the ball strikes. That's pretty much it, and in my mind, a non-factor in choosing between the two, as adjusting the switches on the trolls are pretty simple, as is tightening the troll heads.

As you noted, the drawbridge and gate on routed MM's are often beat, but in a home use environment, you really don't have to worry about that, at least I haven't in 10 years of HUO play. You will want to protect the MM's Merlin saucer and the wood edge in front of the castle with Mantis and/or Cliffy protectors, but likewise, you'll want to protect the Stroke of Luck opening on the AFM as well.

These are both great games. AFM is mechanically simpler than MM, but in a HUO environment, I don't think this is much of a concern. You really can't go wrong with either game.

AFM has more conventional mechanics, plus it's the newer game so they've had more chance to work out any kinks in their board design

Neither is likely to break since they are new games but the trolls on MM are the most likely mechanical failure IMO. I also really don't like that on MMr they put driver transistors mounted under the playfield. In AFM they moved them to a board in the backbox which I like better. that being said, there are MMr's on location that have survived a lot of plays with little to no failures of electrical components. Also the first AFMr I saw on location had a trough opto problem and probably had less than 1000 plays on it so as with pinball, you will have to fix something at some point. Pick whatever game you like better and if you aren't sure which one you like better, go play them on location if you can.

I've had my MMr LE for about 2 years. I only had to adjust some things out of the box when I got it. And the troll hit switches once so far.

Had similar issues with every game I've had.
Stuff breaks, that's pinball.

Afm is an easier game to maintain than MM.

If you are thinking a new game will not develop issues, you shouldn't be buying one. A newer machine is less likely to have board issues, but switches go out of adjustment, wires break off, and things happen.You either have deep pockets and pay a tech to maintain it or you learn how to repair it yourself.

One operator has 25,700+ plays on AFM remake already.

Post 5421 of AFM remake thread
D3D55CE6-6275-4B6A-B1F2-5F9D2AFF9BBF (resized).jpeg

I have 1,800 plays on my MMR since I got it back in November 2017 and the only thing I had to tweak was the spring on one of my trolls. Took 10 min. Like everyone has stated, get the game you want the most. Don't worry about things breaking. They all break but are fixable.